▪ I. † thrum, n.1 Obs.
Forms: 1 þrymm, 1–2 þrym, 3–4 þrum, 4 þrom, 4–5 throm, throme, 5 thrumme.
[app. OE. þrymm a host, a great body of people, a multitude (also strength, might, majesty, glory); cf. OS. thrumme in mid heruthrummeon ‘with hostile power or strength’; cf. OS. thrimman to swell; also Flemish drommen in thrum v.1]
1. A company or body of people (or animals); a band, troop, crowd; on a thrum, in a body, in a crowd. Also, a bundle (of arrows, quot. c 1450). Also attrib. † þrum-ferd (ferd n.1 3).
| a 800 Cynewulf Christ (Cod. Exon.) 1063 Se engla þrym. c 1000 ælfric Saints' Lives xxv. 841 Se hundredes ealdor..com on ærne merᵹen mid mycclum þrymme. c 1205 Lay. 1356 Þer heo leof folc funden feower þrum ferden. c 1330 Arth. & Merl. 211 Whiles þou were in our þrome, No were we neuer ouercome. a 1350 St. Andrew 209 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 6 Þe folk thrang efter al on a þrum. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 13236 Thei schal alle dye on a throme. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 2949 A hundred houndes on a throm He saw that were thider com. c 1450 Ball. Death Robin Lyth 48 (Ritson) Fowre and twenty goode arwys Trusyd in a thrumme. |
2. Magnificence, splendour.
| 971 Blickl. Hom. 77 Emb þone þrym and þa fæᵹernesse ðæs temples. c 1175 12th Cent. Hom. 130 Þenne beoð þa welæn & þa glengæ aȝotene, & þe þrym tobrocen. |
▪ II. thrum, n.2
(θrʌm)
Forms: (1 þrum), 4–6 throm(e, 5 thrum(e, thrwme, 5–6 thromm(e, 5–7 thrumm(e, 6–7 thrumbe, (6 Sc. throomb), 6–9 thrumb, 6– thrum.
[OE. þrum (in comb. in tungeþrum ligament of the tongue), ME. thrum, throm, = MDu. drom, Du. dial. drom, drum (in mod.Du. dreum m. ‘thrum’), OHG., MHG. drum end-piece, remnant (in mod.G. trumm ‘thrum’, pl. trümmer remnants, ruins); cf. ON. þrǫmr edge, brim (Norw. tröm, trumm, tram edge, brim, Sw. dial. tröm, trumm, trom stump); formed, with various suffixes, from OTeut. ablaut-stem *þrum-, *þram-,:—Indo-Eur. *trmo-; cf. L. term-inus, Gr. τέρµ-α end.
a 1000 Lorica Gloss. in Sax. Leechd. I. Pref. 70 Sublinguæ, tungeðrum [Harl. MS. ibid. 74 undertungeðrum].]
1. Weaving. Each of the ends of the warp-threads left unwoven and remaining attached to the loom when the web is cut off; usually in pl. (also collect. sing.) the row or fringe of such threads.
| 1429 Rolls of Parlt. IV. 360/2 The Weyvers..have taken..in common usage,..what tyme yat yei have wroght a Clothe almost to ye end, to kitte away to yair singuler avauntage ye yerne yat leveth unwoven, and callen hit Thrommes [cf. Act 8 Hen. VI, c. 23 §1]. 14.. Nom. in Wr.-Wülcker 728/17 Hoc licium, a throm. 1449 Maldon, Essex, Crt. Rolls (Bundle 29, No. 3), Ricardus Vyce petit xxd. pro xx lb. de Thromes empt. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 291 O Fates! come, come: Cut thred and thrum. 1591 R. Bruce Serm. I j b, The Webster doth cut off the web from the throombs of his beam. 1611 Bible Isa. xxxviii. 12 He will cut mee off with pining sicknesse [marg. from the thrum]. 1649 Roberts Clavis Bibl. 447 A weavers web brought unto the thrum, and ready to be cut off. 1725 Bradley's Fam. Dict. s.v. Wound, If the Shot be quite thorough the Wound, then take a few Weavers Linnen Thrums..and dipping 'em first in Varnish, draw 'em through the Wound. 1847–78 Halliwell, Thrum, the extremity of a weaver's warp, often about nine inches long, which cannot be woven. |
2. a. A short piece of waste thread or yarn (including the unwoven ends of the warp = 1); pl. or collect. sing. odds and ends of thread; also, a short or loose end of thread projecting from the surface of a woven fabric; a tuft, tassel, or fringe of threads at the edge of a piece of cloth, etc.
(In early quots. barely distinguishable from 1.)
| 1346 Litt. Red Bk. Bristol (1900) II. 5 Drap..estre fait de fil de lein appele thromes. 1439 Deed (Westm. Chapter Archives), Qui tunc dedit predicto Johanni Kirkeby capellum de thrummes fact[um] quod tunc temporis erat de noua coniectura. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 493/1 Thrvmm, of a clothe, filamen,..villus, fractillus. 1519 W. Horman Vulg. 167 b, The baudy thrummys of the carpettis toke me faste by the feete. 1530 Palsgr. 158 Vng payné, a thrumme of a hatte or suche lyke. 1541–2 Act 33 Hen. VIII, c. 18 §3 They..shall..[not] make..any manner Kerseyes with flockis, thrummes or other deceivable thinge or thingis. 1555 W. Watreman Fardle Facions ii. x. 215 Thei [Tartars] make..litle pupettes of silke or of felte, or of thrumme. 1611 Cotgr., Pesles, thrummes; or that which hangs at the end of a peece of cloth like fringe. c 1645 Howell Lett. (1650) III. 33 The wrong side of a Turky carpet, which useth to be full of thrums and knots, and nothing so even as the right side. 1675 V. Alsop Anti-Sozzo 302 Tying both the Ends so handsomely together, that it may not Ravel out into Thrums. 1681 S. Colvil Whigs Supplic. (1751) 4 Like pictures on the wrong side of Arras hangings, spoiled with thrumbs and threads. 1878 Pater Child in House Misc. Stud. (1895) 174 Childish treasures, glass beads, empty scent-bottles still sweet, thrum of coloured silks. |
b. Naut. (pl., also collect. sing.) Short pieces of coarse woollen or hempen yarn, used for mops, etc.: cf. thrum v.2 e, and thrummed1 c.
| 1466 Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 346 Thrommes for pyche mapoltes. 1623 Whitbourne Newfoundland 75 Thrummes for Pitch mabs. 1848 [see thrum v.2 e]. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Thrum, any coarse woollen or hempen yarn. It is used for mops, &c., in the cabins. |
c. fig.: pl. (or collect. sing.) Odds and ends, scraps.
| 1648–1833 Thread and thrum, Threads and thrums [see thread n. 2 c]. a 1653 G. Daniel Idyll. v. 180 Arguments For you to ravell; Thrumbs of Discontents: From the large Webbe of Care. 1872 Morley Voltaire iii. (ed. 2) 147 It is this, which..makes life a whole instead of a parcel of thrums bound together by an accident. |
† 3. Short for thrum cap (see 7). Obs. rare—1.
| 1719 D'Urfey Pills IV. 158 The Monmouth Cap, the Sailor's Thrumb. Ibid., The Sea-man with his Thrumb. |
† 4. Applied to various structures in plants or animals resembling small threads, or a tuft of these. a. pl. The florets of the disk in a composite flower, or the stamens in a simple flower; also, sing. the disk, the central petals of a double flower, or the stamens collectively. Obs. (exc. in comb. thrum-eyed: see 7).
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. xxxii. 189 Of Buphthalmos, or Oxe eye... The floure is of a fayre bright yellow colour, and large, with many small thrommes or yellow thredes in the middle, almost like to the floures of Marigoldes. 1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden ii. 4 Fair large red flours [of peony]..having..in the midst, yellow Threds or Thrums. 1668 Wilkins Real Char. ii. iv. §4. 81 Consisting of..a circle of Leaves, and a Thrumm of short stamina, close set together. 1671 Grew Anat. Plants v. §17 The Florid Attire, is commonly known by the blind and rude Name of Thrums. 1694 Westmacott Script. Herb. (1695) 99 The Water-Lillies..bearing a white flower, with yellow thrums in the middle. 1726 Flower Gard. Displ. (ed. 2) Introd., Thrums, Apices or Chives, when a great Number of them grow together in a Flower. 1812 New Bot. Gard. I. 33 The..cutting winds in March will often cause them [double Anemones] to blow single, by destroying the thrum that is in the middle of the flower. |
† b. A tuft, bundle, or fringe of any threadlike structures, as hairs on a leaf, fibres of a root, etc.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens iv. lxvii. 529 Of Carline Thistel... Upon [the] stemme groweth a round flat head,..thromde like Ueluet, and round about that Ueluet throm, or Crowne, standeth a pale or inclosure, of..small white leaues, whiche is the flower. 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. xxxvi. §1. 51 A fringe or thrum downe the middle of the lower leaues. Ibid. ii. xvii. §3. 200 The roote is nothing else but as it were a thrum or bundell of threedes. 1688 R. Holme Armoury ii. 61/2 Three [leaves]..each having a yellow freez, or thrum near the bottome. |
† c. A bundle of minute blood-vessels, a plexus.
| 1615 Crooke Body of Man 431 A thrumbe of crisped vessels called Plexus Choroides.., wherein the Animal spirits receiue their preparation. |
5. Brewing. (See quots.) dial.
| 1828 Craven Gloss., Thrum, a bundle of birch or twigs in a mash tub, to prevent the malt from escaping and through which the liquor percolates. 1877 N.W. Linc. Gloss., Thrum, a small utensil of wicker-work affixed to the hole in a mash-tub in brewing, to hinder the malt from escaping when the wort is run off. |
† 6. Applied jocularly or contemptuously to a person (? one meanly or raggedly dressed). Obs.
| 1610 B. Jonson Alch. i. i, You were once..the good, Honest, plaine, liuery-three-pound-thrum; that kept Your masters worships house..For the vacations. 1705 Elstob in Hearne Collect. 30 Nov. (O.H.S.) I. 108 He eyes ye greasy Rout, Of gaping thrums, stand listning round about. 1727 Somerville Canidia's Epithal. 9 Each sprightly soph, each brawny thrum, Spent his first runnings here. |
7. attrib. and Comb. a. attrib. Made or consisting of thrums or waste threads of yarn (or something resembling it), or having thrums inserted in or projecting from it (cf. thrum v.2, thrummed1): as thrum beard, thrum bonnet, thrum hat, thrum mat, thrum mop, thrum night-cap; pertaining to or dealing in thrums, as thrum shop. b. Comb.: thrum cap, (a) a cap made of thrums; transf. a person wearing a thrum cap; (b) Canad. (obs. exc. in place-names), a small island with a conical shape suggestive of a thrum cap; hence † thrum-capped (-kæpt) a., wearing a thrum cap; thrum-chinned (-tʃɪnd) a. (jocular), bearded; thrum-eyed (-aɪd) a., applied by florists to the short-styled form of a flower (esp. of the genus Primula), which shows the boss of ‘thrums’ or anthers (cf. 4 a) at the top of the corolla-tube (opp. to pin-eyed); so thrum eye; † thrum-flower, (of Petiver) Astrocarpus Clusii, a native of the western Mediterranean region; † thrum-stone, Grew's name for asbestos, as being a fibrous mineral. See also thrumwort.
| 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 307 A long *thrum beard. |
| 1827 Scott Highl. Widow i, Duncan with the *thrum bonnet, and the other lords of the..towers of Kilchurn. |
| [1439 Thrum cap: see quot. in 2.] 1624 Massinger Renegado i. iii, A witch with a *thrum cap, That sells ale underground. 1676 Lady A. Fanshawe in Mem. Feb. an. 1650 (1829) 93, I..desired him [the cabin-boy] to be so good as to give me his blue thrum cap he wore, and his tarred coat..and putting them on..I..stood upon the deck by my husband's side. 1690 Dryden Don Sebast. i. i, Hold, my dear Thrum-cap: I obey thee cheerfully. 1720 Strype Stow's Surv. (1754) I. i. xxvi. 196/1 (The Blue Coat Hospital) Their habit being now..a round thrum Cap tied with a red band, yellow Stockings. 1832 T. Baillie Acct. New Brunswick 120 Opposite to this point an islet or thrum-cap..was once considered available for the purpose of drawing fish. 1903 G. S. Wasson Cap'n Simeon's Store xi. 248 They had..taken to their boat and pulled for Thrumcap Island Light. 1966 T. H. Raddall Hangman's Beach ii. xiv. 217 ‘Why is this called the Thrum Cap?’ ‘Thrumb's a coarse kind of wool... Sailors used to wear knitted caps of red thrum... You notice the red bank of the knoll standing up like a thrum cap.’ |
| 1708 W. King Art Cookery (1807) 73 Would our *thrum-capped ancestors find fault, For want of sugartongs, or spoons for salt? |
| 1608 Middleton Trick to Catch Old One iv. iii, [Widows] that will marry unfledged boys before comely *thrum-chinned gentlemen. |
| 1888 Pall Mall G. 19 May 6/1 Auriculas..with their characters of grey or green edge, pin or *thrum eye, &c. |
| 1861 Darwin in Jrnl. of Linnæan Soc., Botany VI. 77 Florists who cultivate the Polyanthus and Auricula..call those which display the globular stigma at the mouth of the corolla ‘pin-headed’ or ‘pin-eyed’, and those which display the stamens *thrum-eyed. |
| c 1711 Petiver Gazophyl. vi. lii, Small Spanish Purple *Thrum-flower,..Grows a Span high on the stony Hills of Salamanca. |
| 1543 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. VIII. 180 Twa *thrum hattis of silk, price of the pece xiiij s. 1590 [Tarlton] News Purgat. (1844) 120 A thrumbe hat she had of red. |
| 1770 Cook Voy. round World ii. ix. (1773) 453 Ends..hanging out..like the shag or *thrumb matts which [etc.]. 1883 Man. Seamanship Boys' Training Ships (Admiralty) (1886) 184 A thrum mat is made by cutting a certain number of yarns of equal length and reeving them through holes made in the mat, both ends to come through on one side. 1961 F. H. Burgess Dict. Sailing 208 Thrum mat, a piece of canvas or other coarse material into which thrums are inserted, either roughly for chafing purposes and collision mats, or in decorative pattern with materials suitable for homes. |
| 1753 Hogarth Anal. Beauty vi. 74 The inelegant and inanimate figure of a *thrum mop or muff. |
| 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ., The Husband, He sits..in his *thrum night⁓cap. |
| 1796 Colquhoun Police Metropolis p. viii, Petty Pilferers at Old Iron Shops,..Rag and *Thrum Shops. |
| 1681 Grew Musæum iii. i. v. 313 *Thrum-Stone, as I call it. Amianthus Lapis & Asbestinus. |
▪ III. thrum, n.3
(θrʌm)
[Echoic: cf. thrum v.3]
An echoic word representing various sounds, esp. the tones produced by ‘thrumming’ a guitar or similar instrument; also dial. the purring of a cat.
| [a 1553 Udall Royster D. ii. i, Anon to our gitterne, thrumpledum, thrumpledum thrum.] 1798 Lawrence Treat. Horses II. i. 18 That..affectionate domestic the cat,..its feet kneading in unison with the grateful thrum. 1814 Sporting Mag. XLIV. 128 The soft and melodious thrum evincing the happy state of his [a cat's] feelings. 1845 T. Cooper Purgatory of Suicides (1877) 110 Fear not Grimalkin! she doth sing ‘three-thrum’. 1863 W. Miller Willie Winkie ii, The cat's singing grey thrums To the sleeping hen. 1883 Bertha Thomas George Sand 119 The distant thrum of guitars. 1884 Pall Mall G. 4 July 4/1 The thrum-thrum, ting-ting, tum-a tum-tum of their banjoes filled the air. |
▪ IV. † thrum, v.1 Obs. rare.
[? Related to thrum n.1: cf. Flemish ‘drommen = dringhen, premere, pressare, stipare, drom, ghedrom, pressura’ (Kilian).]
1. trans. To compress, condense.
| c 1205 Lay. 54 Feþeren he nom mid fingren & fiede on boc-felle..& þa þre boc þrumde to are [i.e. to one]. |
2. To press or crowd in; to cram.
| 1603 Harsnet Pop. Impost. 52 The Devills they had cast, did rebound back againe..which by this provision of Thrumming in Devills at the first might..have been avoided. |
▪ V. thrum, v.2
Also 6 throm, 7–9 thrumb. See also thrummed1.
[f. thrum n.2]
trans. To furnish or adorn with thrums or ends of thread (or something similar); to cover with thrums or small tufts, raise a pile upon (cloth); to make shaggy. Now dial.
| c 1525 Harl. MS. 4217 art. 11 Hattes thrommyd with silke of diuerse collours. a 1562 Cavendish Wolsey (1893) 88 His hosyn, frome the kne uppward, was alltogether thrommed with sylke. 1598 Florio, Irtare, to thrum, to make rough, hairie or brislie. 1809 Southey in Q. Rev. II. 41 When the young king is first invested with the..red sash of royalty (which is made of net work, and thrummed with red and yellow feathers). 1887 Suppl. to Jamieson, Thrum, to raise a tufted pile on knitted or woven woollen stuffs, to cover woollen cloth with small tufts like thrums. |
† b. transf. and fig. To fringe or clothe. Obs.
| 1589 R. Harvey Pl. Perc. 13 Leaue thrumming thy Pibault Iestes with Scripture, Iron and Clay will not be tempered togither. 1591 Sylvester Du Bartas i. vii. 27 A craggy Rocks steep-hanging boss (Thrumm'd half with Ivie, half with crisped Moss). 1630 Drayton Muses' Elysium iv. 82, I could wish..this bank were thickly thrumb'd with grass As soft as sleave or sarcenet ever was. |
† c. To twist, curl, twine; also intr. To curl (as hair). Obs.
| 1598 Florio, Cincinnare, to curle, or thrum any haire. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. iii. i. 128 So in æthiopia by a peculiar thrumming of their hairs, they are defended from the heat. |
† d. to thrum caps: lit. to cover caps with thrums; a proverbial phrase expressing trifling, or waste of work and time. Also to thrum buttons, and absol. to thrum. Obs.
| 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. 9 The King stood not long a thrumming of buttons there. 1602 Narcissus (1893) 160 Why stand wee heere, as it were cappes a thrumming? 1614 J. Cooke Greene's Tu Quoque H ij b, I'de nere stand thrumming of Caps for the matter. 1626 Middleton Women Beware Wom. iii. iii, I'll not stand all day thrumming, But quickly shoot my bolt. 1644 Quarles Judgm. & Mercy 18 Are we born to thrum caps, or pick straws? |
e. Naut. To sew or fasten bunches of rope-yarn over (a mat or sail) so as to produce a shaggy surface, suitable to prevent chafing or stop a leak.
| 1711 [see thrummed1 c]. 1783 Capt. Inglefield Narr. Loss Centaur 16 All the officers, passengers and boys, who were not of the profession of seamen, had been employed thrumming a sail which was passed under the ship's bottom. 1820 Scoresby Acc. Arctic Reg. II. 448 note, By thrumbing the sail, that is, sewing long bunches of ropeyarn all over it. 1838 Poe A. G. Pym Wks. 1864 IV. 66 A sail was thrummed, and got under the bows. 1848 G. Biddlecombe Art of Rigging 36 Thrumming, interplacing, in a regular manner, through intervals of matting made by a fid, short pieces of thrums, or ropeyarn. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v., A vessel, when leaky, is thrummed by working some heavy spare sail, as the spritsail, into a thrummed mat, greasing and tarring it well, passing it under the bottom, and heaving all parts tight. |
▪ VI. thrum, v.3
Also 7–9 thrumb.
[Echoic: going with thrum n.3]
1. a. intr. To play on a stringed instrument, as a guitar, harp, etc., by plucking the strings; to play on any stringed instrument in an idle, mechanical, or unskilful way; to strum.
| 1592 Greene Disput. 25 Neither had he any excellent quallities but thrumming on the gittron. 1669 Pepys Diary 12 Apr., After sitting a while, thrumming upon my viall, and singing. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xvii, Sophy, love, take your guitar, and thrum in with the boy a little. 1822 W. Irving Braceb. Hall v, Sometimes he even thrums a little on the piano. 1872 Calverley Fly Leaves (1903) 72 Bang, twang, clatter and clang, Strum, thrum, upon fiddle and drum. |
b. trans. To play (a stringed instrument, or a tune on it) idly, monotonously, or unskilfully; to strum upon; also, to pluck, twang (a string).
| a 1625 [see thrumming below]. 1675 Covel in Early Voy. Levant (Hakl. Soc.) 215 A little pittifull instrument with three wire strings, which every fellow thrums ordinarily about the street. 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. 439 Th' old Harp on which he thrums his Lays. 1758 L. Temple Sketches (ed. 2) 28 The Productions of our present Italian Masters are thrummed over for a Season. 1782 [T. Vaughan] Fashionable Follies II. cci. 113 Thrumming his guittar under her window. 1841 Catlin N. Amer. Ind. I. xxii. 159 Bows were strung and thrummed to test their elasticity. 1866 Mrs. Stowe Litt. Foxes 117 They thrum a few tunes on the piano. 1873 ‘Ouida’ Pascarèl II. 15 The violin of Toccò thrummed a gay melody. |
2. intr. To sound as an instrument or string when thrummed; to sound monotonously; to hum.
| 1763 Poetry in Ann. Reg. 245 With dead, dull, doleful, heavy hums..The sober hurdy-gurdy thrums. 1887 Gunter Mr. Barnes xxii. 159 And so with mandolins thrumming at their head they finally come up the avenue. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 9 Oct. 2/3 Looms are full of woollen webs, spinning-wheels are thrumming. |
b. Of a cat: To purr. dial.
| a 1810 Tannahill Poems (1846) 30 Auld baudrons sits, and croodling thrums. 1841 P. Parley's Ann. II. 324 She began to cock her tail,..and to purr and thrum as if all her sorrows were entirely forgotten. |
3. a. trans. To recite or tell in a ‘sing-song’ or monotonous way; also, to hum over (a melody).
| 1710 Steele Tatler No. 173 ¶1 Horace and Virgil must be thrummed by a Boy as well before he goes to an Apprenticeship as to the University. 1807 W. Irving Salmag. xii. v. (1824) 216 Who the fair..vex, By thrumming for ever their weakness of sex. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxi, And then siccan stories as Sanders had..; and eh! as he wad thrum them ower and ower..ayont the ingle at e'en. a 1845 Hood Compass xxi, And as he walk'd to self he talked, Some ancient ditty thrumming, In under tone. |
b. intr. To speak or read monotonously, to ‘drone’, mumble.
| a 1774 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 681 To despise every old woman that thrums over good books all day,..because she does not understand Latin. 1825 [see thrumming below]. 1829 Scott Jrnl. 26 Mar., Boswell..has thrummed upon this topic till it is threadbare. 1858 Bailey Age 152 Shall every ninny who can thrum on rhyme, Break all our ear⁓drums without tune or time? |
4. To strike something with the fingers as if playing on a musical instrument; to drum upon (a table, etc.). a. trans.
| c 1750 Shenstone Colemira 28 How I long..To view those rosy fingers strike the lyre! For late when bees to change their clime began How did I see 'em thrum the frying pan. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lxiii, She..dashing the pin through the card on to the table, sat thrumming it for a while. |
b. intr. with on or upon.
| 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 265 While I sat..meditating..I was thrumming with the other hand upon the quarto. 1842 Tennyson Will Waterproof xx, I sit, my empty glass reversed, And thrumming on the table. 1865 G. Meredith Rhoda Fleming xv, The squire was thrumming on the back of his chair. |
5. slang. (trans.) a. To beat (a person). ? Obs.
| 1604 Dekker Honest Wh. i. vii, Flat-cap,..y'are a flat foole, an Asse, a Gull, and I'le thrum you. 1676 Shadwell Virtuoso i. i, 'Sdeath! you sawcy Jades,..I'll thrum you. 1823 [see thrumming below]. |
b. In obscene sense: see quots. ? Obs.
| 1611 Florio, Accenc{iacu}re {uacu}na dónna, to thrum a wench. 1762 Brydges Burlesque Homer (1797) I. 138 How they had thrum'd the maids of Troy. |
Hence thrummed (θrʌmd) ppl. a.; ˈthrumming vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| a 1625 Fletcher Woman's Prize i. i, Your mistriss..must think This single thrumming of a fiddle..but even poor sport. 1681 Dryden Span. Friar i. ii, The thrumming of a guitar. 1697 Collier Mor. Subj. ii. (1709) 19 As for Thrumming upon a Fiddle, he left it to such Finical Sparks as they were. 1823 W. H. Pyne Wine & Walnuts (1824) II. xv. 208 The ushers..begged a half holiday for the whole school,..and thus they escaped a thrumming. 1825 Scott Let. 29 Nov., I am writing in the Court..little..enlivened by the thrumming of two very dull pleaders. 1840 Lady C. Bury Hist. of Flirt vii, Thrumming generally leads to whispering and love-making. 1876 Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. l, Little tinklings of mule-bells and whirrings of thrumbed strings. 1941 D. C. Peattie Road of Naturalist (1946) i. 9 Unleashed for the long stretch, the motor took up a loyal thrumming. 1969 Daily Tel. 14 Apr. 19/6 The arrival of a hovercraft..brings a thrumming which rattles the window. 1977 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 21 Aug. 10/1 Switch on, and the Yanmar diesel barked into life, warming up slowly to a soft thrumming. |