thrash
Americanverb (used with object)
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thrashes,
present (3rd person singular)
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thrashed,
past participle, past
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thrashing
present participle
verb (used without object)
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thrashes,
present (3rd person singular)
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thrashed,
past participle, past
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thrashing
present participle
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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
Super Bowl Blowout: Epic Vocab for the Big Game
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The Cay
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The Secret Life of Bees
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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.
See Examples For:
A band of protestors in flip-flops thrash on aluminum pans, registering their anger with the blackouts, moving quickly to avoid the police.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 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
Unai Emery's Villa side overturned a 1-0 first leg defeat to thrash Forest 4-1 on aggregate on Thursday and set up a Europa League final meeting with Bundesliga side Freiburg in Istanbul on 20 May.
From BBC ● May 7, 2026
The term has been widely used throughout the decades by fans, journalists and outlets chronicling the history of thrash.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026
“I can’t thrash Aunt March, so I suppose I shall have to bear it.”
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
The left-hander's had a couple of thrashes outside off stump when he needn't have done, but he registers the visitors' first boundary of the season, drilling Ethan Bamber to the cover fence.
From BBC ● Apr. 4, 2024
Park thrashes through the “Hedwig” songbook with aplomb; high points include the headbanger “Angry Inch,” the aching anthem “Wicked Little Town” and “Wig in a Box,” a tour-de-force tune of self-discovery.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 30, 2021
“When the virus thrashes your lungs, then what’s left is lung damage, and your body just has to heal that on its own,” he says.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 30, 2021
Grohl is her favorite drummer, and when asked why, she answered, “He thrashes the kit really hard, which I like.”
From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2020
So I hang on as it thrashes around.
From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick
Trade bible Variety called it a "lacerating portrait," while Deadline said the "damning" film had "thrashed" Musk as "petty, narcissistic, megalomaniacal, cruel."
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
In June, they were thrashed by Zimbabwe, the lowest of cricket's 10-ranked Test-playing nations, in a one-off match in Harare.
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
When Broussard and his friend attempted to put Catzilla into the fishing basket, with the intention of then releasing it, the 50-pounder violently thrashed and slipped free.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 1, 2026
It's a dream for surfers, but can quickly become a nightmare for inexperienced swimmers thrashed by strong currents.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
I thrashed next to Mother in the beet field.
From "Between Shades of Gray" by Ruta Sepetys
The gulf between Oklahoma State and its free-spending rivals was never more obvious than in the Cowboys’ second game last season, a 69-3 thrashing by Oregon.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
For rock fans, “Boston” had it all—dramatic guitar solos, powerful lead vocals, a jabbing bass line, thrashing drums and catchy songs with a smart blend of pop and metal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Balogun was allowed to feature in the knockout game against Belgium, but the USA suffered a 4-1 thrashing.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Last week management at the 10-brand group began what could be a long and tough process of thrashing out job cuts in talks with the supervisory board as workers protested at plants nationwide.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
But somehow seeing that deer there thrashing around, trying to free itself from the fence, made my blood boil.
From "Prisoner B-3087" by Alan Gratz
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.
