thresh
VerbWordNet 3.0
Verb (4)
- move or stir about violently“The feverish patient thrashed around in his bed”Synonyms: convulsethresh aboutthrashthrash aboutslashtossjactitate
- move like a flail; thresh about“Her arms were flailing”Synonyms: flail
- beat the seeds out of a grainSynonyms: thrash
- give a thrashing to; beat hardSynonyms: thrashlamflail
Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)
Thrash \Thrash\, Thresh \Thresh\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Thrashed; p. pr. & vb. n. Thrashing.] [OE. [thorn]reschen, [thorn]reshen, to beat, AS. [thorn]erscan, [thorn]rescan; akin to D. dorschen, OD. derschen, G. dreschen, OHG. dreskan, Icel. [thorn]reskja, Sw. tr["o]ska, Dan. t[ae]rske, Goth. [thorn]riskan, Lith. traszketi to rattle, Russ. treskate to burst, crackle, tresk' a crash, OSlav. troska a stroke of lighting. Cf. Thresh.]
1.To beat out grain from, as straw or husks; to beat the straw or husk of (grain) with a flail; to beat off, as the kernels of grain; as, to thrash wheat, rye, or oats; to thrash over the old straw. [1913 Webster]
The wheat was reaped, thrashed, and winnowed by machines.— H. Spencer.[1913 Webster]
2.To beat soundly, as with a stick or whip; to drub. [1913 Webster] Thrash
Thrash \Thrash\, Thresh \Thresh\, v. t.
1.To practice thrashing grain or the like; to perform the business of beating grain from straw; as, a man who thrashes well. [1913 Webster]
2.Hence, to labor; to toil; also, to move violently. [1913 Webster]
I rather would be Maevius, thrash for rhymes, Like his, the scorn and scandal of the times.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]
Thresh \Thresh\, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Threshed; p. pr. & vb. n. Threshing.] Same as Thrash. [1913 Webster]
He would thresh, and thereto dike and delve. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]