thrash
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to toss, or plunge about.
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Nautical. to make way against the wind, tide, etc.; beat.
noun
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an act or instance of thrashing; beating; blow.
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Swimming. the upward and downward movement of the legs, as in the crawl.
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British Slang. a party, usually with drinks.
verb phrase
verb
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(tr) to beat soundly, as with a whip or stick
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(tr) to defeat totally; overwhelm
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(intr) to beat or plunge about in a wild manner
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(intr) to move the legs up and down in the water, as in certain swimming strokes
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to sail (a boat) against the wind or tide or (of a boat) to sail in this way
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another word for thresh
noun
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the act of thrashing; blow; beating
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informal a party or similar social gathering
Synonym Usage
See beat.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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thrashsimple
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thrashessimple
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have thrashedperfect
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has thrashedperfect
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am thrashingprogressive
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are thrashingprogressive
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is thrashingprogressive
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have been thrashingperfect progressive
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has been thrashingperfect progressive
Past
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thrashedsimple
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had thrashedperfect
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was thrashingprogressive
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were thrashingprogressive
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had been thrashingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of thrash
before 900; Middle English thrasshen, variant of thresshen to thresh
Explanation
When you thrash someone, you beat them — literally, with your fists, or figuratively, by winning a game or competition. You can describe your game plan for a chess match this way: "I plan to thrash that show-off in just ten moves." You can also threaten to physically thrash someone, like a neighborhood bully who's been known to thrash much smaller kids. Thrash was originally a sixteenth-century variation on the word thresh, which means to separate grain from wheat or another plant by beating it.
Vocabulary lists containing thrash
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The Cay
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the first player to score in six World Cups as his double helps Portugal thrash Uzbekistan.
From BBC • Jun. 23, 2026
Uncertainty will weigh on shipping while Washington and Tehran thrash out details on Iran’s nuclear program and other unresolved issues.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 19, 2026
That was never far from our thoughts as we watched “The Late Show” thrash, often jubilantly, against the coming night over the 10 months that the network gave it to bleed out.
From Salon • May 21, 2026
Their agreement with the White House does not address any of these demands but it gives Congress an extra two weeks to thrash out a deal.
From Barron's • Jan. 30, 2026
The brain’s sentence parser starts to thrash when faced with the successive leaves at the beginning, and it crashes altogether when it gets to the pile of alones at the end.
From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
