thresh

[ thresh ]

/ θrɛʃ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR thresh ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to separate the grain or seeds from (a cereal plant or the like) by some mechanical means, as by beating with a flail or by the action of a threshing machine.

to beat as if with a flail.

verb (used without object)

to thresh wheat, grain, etc.

to deliver blows as if with a flail.

noun

the act of threshing.

Verb Phrases

thresh out/over. thrash(def 12).

Words related to thresh

assault, cane, castigate, slap, ram, bruise, spank, belabor, hammer, belt, pummel, pelt, cudgel, trounce, maltreat, swat, lambaste, flagellate, club, punish

Words nearby thresh

threespine stickleback, thremmatology, threnode, threnody, threonine, thresh, thresh out, thresher, threshing machine, threshold, threshold agreement

Also thrash.

Origin of thresh

before 900; Middle English threschen, thresshen, Old English threscan; cognate with German dreschen, Gothic thriskan; akin to Dutch dorsen, Old Norse thriskja

OTHER WORDS FROM thresh

re·thresh, verb (used with object)un·threshed, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH thresh

thrash thresh

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

Examples from the Web for thresh

Yet, though I thresh them all together, I cannot call them liars, either.
Faust|Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
The farmer caught up a huge flail with which he was wont to thresh out his oats.
Hunted and Harried|R.M. Ballantyne
During the harvest the farmers dry and thresh out their crops in it.
Jerusalem Explored, Volume I--Text|Ermete Pierotti
That's where we thresh things out, and in this case there was no time to lose.
Ancestors|Gertrude Atherton

Then we'll thresh them on the barn floor and it will be time soon, Hal, to husk your corn and bring in Aunt Lolly's pumpkins.
Daddy Takes Us to the Garden|Howard R. Garis

British Dictionary definitions for thresh

thresh

/ (θrɛʃ) /

verb

to beat or rub stalks of ripe corn or a similar crop either with a hand implement or a machine to separate the grain from the husks and straw

(tr) to beat or strike

(intr often foll by about) to toss and turn; thrash

noun

the act of threshing

Word Origin for thresh

Old English threscan; related to Gothic thriskan, Old Norse thriskja; see thrash

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