thresh
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.
were threshing
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past progressiveof thresh.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
When the news came that Fort Sumter had been fired on, and that Lincoln had called for troops, our men were threshing.
From The Story of a Pioneer by Anna Howard Shaw
The peasants along the road were threshing their buckwheat on the open ground; women as well as men were at work.
From Brittany & Its Byways by Mrs. Bury Palliser
A number of men were threshing grain a few hundred yards away, the steam threshing machine attracting farmers from all the country about.
From Watch Yourself Go By by Ben W. Warden
They were threshing the wheat on both sides or the track as far as the eye could see.
From Letters of Travel (1892-1913) by Rudyard Kipling
They were threshing over the campaigns of the war between the States and measuring the calibre of commanders as a backwoods man might estimate the girth and footage of timber.
From The Tempering by Charles Neville Buck
