thrash

[ thrash ]

/ θræʃ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR thrash ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to beat soundly in punishment; flog.

to defeat thoroughly: The home team thrashed the visitors.

Nautical. to force (a close-hauled sailing ship under heavy canvas) against a strong wind or sea.

thresh.

verb (used without object)

to toss, or plunge about.

Nautical. to make way against the wind, tide, etc.; beat.

thresh(defs 3, 4).

noun

an act or instance of thrashing; beating; blow.

thresh(def 5).

Swimming. the upward and downward movement of the legs, as in the crawl.

British Slang. a party, usually with drinks.

Verb Phrases

thrash out/over, to talk over thoroughly and vigorously in order to reach a decision, conclusion, or understanding; discuss exhaustively.Also thresh out/over.

Nearby words

Origin of thrash

before 900; Middle English thrasshen, variant of thresshen to thresh

SYNONYMS FOR thrash

1 maul, drub.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR thrash ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsun·thrashed, adjectivewell-thrashed, adjective

Can be confusedthrash thresh

Synonym study

1. See beat.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for thrashed

I lay there and thrashed about and all I could hear was my father and ‘ha, ha, ha’.
Kate and William’s Royal Family Values|Tom Sykes|September 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I lay there and thrashed about and all I could hear was my father and 'ha, ha, ha'.
Philip and Charles's Feud Resurfaces Over ... Wind Energy|Tom Sykes|May 2, 2012|DAILY BEAST
“We got thrashed,” Obama recalled, adding that he thought this time it would be better to just watch a sports event.
President Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron Share a Symbolic Make-Nice Moment|Eleanor Clift|March 14, 2012|DAILY BEAST
When Saddam Hussein tried to challenge us from within, we thrashed him in the Gulf War.
Israel's Palestinian Arab Spring|Peter Beinart|May 16, 2011|DAILY BEAST

But, she dog-paddled furiously, thrashed about, made a lot of waves, and managed not to drown.
Palin vs. Biden 2016|Mark McKinnon|June 15, 2009|DAILY BEAST
He used to make us do anything that seized his fancy, and if we ventured to refuse, often thrashed us.
On the Banks of the Amazon|W.H.G. Kingston
And to cure him the inhuman monster who had borne the name of James Langdon had thrashed him till strength had come.
With Wolseley to Kumasi|F.S. Brereton
“No,” interrupted Joe, smiling contemptuously, as he thought of the dissipated young fellow whom he had thrashed so soundly.
Baseball Joe Around the World|Lester Chadwick
The Klan visited such characters, warned them, thrashed them, and disarmed them.
Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama|Walter L. Fleming
During the long march he had thrashed over again and again all that the success of his rash venture would mean to him.
The Mucker|Edgar Rice Burroughs

British Dictionary definitions for thrashed

thrash

/ (θræʃ) /

verb

(tr) to beat soundly, as with a whip or stick

(tr) to defeat totally; overwhelm

(intr) to beat or plunge about in a wild manner

(intr) to move the legs up and down in the water, as in certain swimming strokes

to sail (a boat) against the wind or tide or (of a boat) to sail in this way

another word for thresh

noun

the act of thrashing; blow; beating

informal a party or similar social gathering

Word Origin for thrash

Old English threscan; related to Old High German dreskan, Old Norse thriskja

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for thrashed

thrash

1580s, "to separate grains from wheat, etc., by beating," dialectal variant of threshen (see thresh). Sense of "beat (someone) with (or as if with) a flail" is first recorded c.1600. Meaning "to make wild movements like those of a flail or whip" is attested from 1846. Related: Thrashed; thrashing. Type of fast heavy metal music first called by this name 1982.

thrash

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

noun

Verb Phrases

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of thrash

Synonym study

Examples from the Web for thrashed

British Dictionary definitions for thrashed

thrash

verb

noun

Word Origin for thrash

Word Origin and History for thrashed

thrash