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thrall
[ thrawl ]
/ θrɔl /
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noun
a person who is morally or mentally enslaved by some power, influence, or the like: He was the thrall of morbid fantasies.
a person held in bondage or slavery.
the condition of being in the power of something or someone; a state of subjugation or rapt absorption: We will receive no help from the media, who are for the most part in thrall to the political establishment.
verb (used with object)
Archaic. to put or hold in thralldom; enslave.
adjective
Archaic. subjected to bondage; enslaved.
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Origin of thrall
First recorded before 950; Middle English thral, thral(l)e, threl(l)e, Old English thrǣl “bondman, slave, servant, thrall,” from Old Norse thrǣll “slave, servant”
OTHER WORDS FROM thrall
un·thralled, adjectiveWords nearby thrall
Thrace, Thracian, Thraco-Phrygian, thraiping, Thrale, thrall, thralldom, thrang, thrapple, thrash, thrash about
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use thrall in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for thrall
thrall
/ (θrɔːl) /
noun
Also called: thraldom, (US) thralldom (ˈθrɔːldəm) the state or condition of being in the power of another person
a person who is in such a state
a person totally subject to some need, desire, appetite, etc
verb
(tr) to enslave or dominate
Word Origin for thrall
Old English thrǣl slave, from Old Norse thrǣll
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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