▪ I. thatch, n.
(θætʃ)
Forms: 4–5 þacche, 5–6 thacche, thecche, thetche, 7– thatch.
[A late collateral form of thack n., conformed to thatch v., which has superseded thack in literary use.]
1. Material used in thatching; straw or similar material with which roofs are covered; particularly b. that actually forming a roof, the thatching.
palmetto thatch: see palmetto.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. clxvii[i]. (Bodl. MS.), Þe rafters beþ stronge and square..& beþ charged w{supt}oute w{supt} sclatte and tile oþre w{supt} strawe and þacche [ed. 1495 thetche]. 1555 Eden Decades 159 Theyr houses..are..couered with reede & thetche. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa Introd. 20 Their houses are built round, al of earth, flat-roofed, and couered with a kind of thatch. 17.. Pope Imit. Spenser iv, Hard by a Sty, beneath a roof of thatch, Dwelt Obloquy. 1850 Prescott Peru iii. viii. II. 161 The roofs of their dwellings, instead of tiles, were only of thatch. 1878 Bates Centr. Amer. iv. 41 Everywhere the palms yield an abundance of poles and thatch available for building purposes. |
| b. 1693 Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. 5 The Cieling and Floor above ought to be..clad in Winter with a Thatch of Hay or Straw. 1816 in Life W. Havergal (1882) 13 The pretty thatch and white walls so common hereabouts. 1867 D. G. Mitchell Rural Stud. 77 The roof a neat thatch of wheat straw. 1889 Doyle Micah Clarke 228 They shelter the walls from the rain..by great overhanging thatches. |
c. transf. A thatched dwelling.
| 1693 S. Harvey in Dryden's Juvenal ix. (1697) 233 The Poor Inhabitants of yonder Thatch Call'd me their Lord. a 1790 T. Warton Ode viii. Morning, Up mounts the mower from his lowly thatch. 1793 W. Hodges Trav. India 67 For constant residence, these would be improved into the various thatches and huts which I have seen. |
2. fig. Covering; often
humorously the hair of the head.
| a 1633 Austin Medit. (1635) 284 The very Top and Cover, my Thatch above..growes gray. 1634 S. R. Noble Soldier ii. i. in Bullen O. Pl. (1882) I. 276 Had my Barbour Perfum'd my louzy thatch here and poak'd out My Tuskes more stiffe. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 129 'Neath the hazel's leafy thatch. 1888 Lowell Heartsease & Rue 193 We..Who've paid a perruquier for mending our Thatch. 1894 M. Dyan All in a Man's K. (1899) 27 The damage he had done to his ‘thatch’, as he graphically styled his hair. |
b. orig. and chiefly
U.S. A matted layer of plant debris, moss, etc., on a lawn; the material of this layer.
| 1955 How to install & care for Your Lawn 59/1 Opening up a thatch of interwoven stolons and stems can be difficult. 1964 Book of Lawn Care (N.Y. Times) iii. 15 Because of its rapid growth, this grass has a tendency to form a heavy mat or thatch. 1977 Western Living (Vancouver) Apr. 61/1 Power raking for the removal of moss ‘thatch’ in spring often does harm to the turf. 1980 Amat. Gardening 4 Oct. 16/3 Another cause of moss is ‘thatch’, a layer of dead, moisture retentive grass and debris that builds up on the lawn's surface. |
3. a. Name in the West Indies for several species of palms, the leaves of which are used for thatching: see
quot. and
thatch-palm in 4.
| 1866 Treas. Bot., Thatch, Calyptronoma Swartzii, and Copernicia tectorum. Palmetto Thatch, Thrinax parviflora. Silver Thatch, Thrinax argentea. |
b. U.S. Tall, coarse grass.
| 1622 Relation Eng. Plantation Plimoth, New England 25 Some of our people being abroad, to get and gather thatch, they saw great fires. 1695 in Early Rec. Providence, Rhode Island (1894) VI. 156 That Parcell of Meadow marsh & thatch..belongeth to me. 1797 B. Trumbull Compl. Hist. Connecticut I. iii. 24 There grew bent grass, or as some called it, thatch, two, three and four feet high. 1863 D. G. Mitchell My Farm of Edgewood 49, I gave them [sc. bees] a warm shelter of thatch. 1951 E. Graham My Window looks down East iv. 34 Salt hay and thatch, or evergreens, are piled around the houses to insulate against the cold. |
4. attrib. and
Comb., as
thatch-eave,
thatch-roof,
thatch-straw,
thatch-work (also
attrib.);
thatch-browed,
thatch-roofed adjs.;
thatch-cloak, a cloak of any thatching material;
thatch-grass, a grass or similar plant used for thatching, as Cape T.,
Restio chondropetalus;
thatch-hook: see
quot.;
† thatch-house, a thatched house;
thatch-palm, name for various palms of which the leaves are used for thatching: in W. Indies, the genus
Thrinax; in southern
U.S., the genus
Sabal,
esp. S. umbraculifera; in Brazil,
Euterpe montana (
Funk's Stand. Dict. 1895); in Lord Howe's Island,
Howea forsteriana (
Cent. Dict. 1891);
thatch-peg,
-pin,
-prick, a stick sharpened at one end to fasten down thatch;
thatch-rake, an implement with curved teeth for straightening the thatching material as it is laid on the roof;
thatch-rod = thatching-rod;
thatch-tree (see
quot. 1866);
thatch-wood, brushwood arranged as thatch: see
quot.| 1863 W. Barnes Poems in Dorset Dial. 61 An'by a house, where rwoses hung avore The *thatch-brow'd window, an' the open door. |
| 1844 B. Mayer Mexico xxiii. 166 An Indian shepherd-boy in his long *thatch-cloak of water-flags. |
| 1819 Keats Ode to Autumn 4 The vines that round the *thatch-eaves run. |
| 1884 Miller Plant-n., *Grass, Cape Thatch. [1858 Hogg Veg. Kingd. 802 The houses at the Cape of Good Hope are commonly thatched with Restio tectorum,..sometimes whole huts are built with it.] |
| 1886 Cheshire Gloss., *Thatch-hooks, iron hooks, driven into the spars, to hold down the first layers of straw in thatching a house. |
| 1521 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 399 No man shall buld, make or repayre anny straue or *tache housse, for fear of fyre and burninge.., unlesse they be covered with sklattes. 1609 Ev. Wom. in Hum. iv. ii. in Bullen O. Pl. IV, He that has not a tilde house must bee glad of a thatch house. |
| 1866 Treas. Bot 1147/1 Thrinax..In Jamaica these palms are commonly known by the name of *Thatch-palms. Ibid., The Silver Thatch-palm is usually said to yield..Palmetto Thatch,..extensively employed for making palm-chip hats, baskets, and other fancy articles. |
| 1897 Gilchrist Peakland 62 Busily whittling *thatch pegs. |
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 266/1 Thatching, is to cover..with Straw, Ferne, Rushes or Gorst, which is bound and held together by Laths, Windings, and *Thatch Pricks. |
| 1847–94 Parker Gloss. Her. s.v. Rake, The *thatch-rake or thatcher's rake. |
| 1903 Q. Rev. July 12 They were its *thatch-rods. |
| 1901 Westm. Gaz. 15 Aug. 1/3 The *thatch roof of a West-country cottage. |
| 1774 J. Trumbull Poet Wks. (1820) II. 210 The *thatch-roof'd hamlet and defenceless shed..are their fate. 1847 Longfellow Ev. i. Prel. 9 Where is the thatch-roofed village, the home of Acadian farmers? |
| 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm III. 1095 To give the *thatch-straw a smoothness, it should be stroked down with a long supple rod of willow. |
| 1756 P. Browne Jamaica 344 The *Thatch Tree. The leaves..used for thatch. 1866 Treas. Bot., Thatch-tree, a name applied to palms generally in the West Indies. |
| 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., *Thatch-wood Work,..a mode of facing sea-walls with brushwood. Under-brush..is cut down, fagoted at its full length, and spread over the face of the banks. It is kept down by strong stakes, which have cross pins at their upper ends to rest upon the brush. |
| 1895 Workman Algerian Mem. xi. 113 Villages with *thatch-work houses. |
Sense 2 b in
Dict. becomes 2 c. Add:
[2.] b. A woman's pubic hair.
slang.
| 1933 C. McKay Banana Bottom vi. 67 Looking to the stand where the girls were, Tack, indicating Bita, said: ‘And tha's a finer piece a beauty than thisere. Man! Man! Oh, how I'd love to get under her thatch.’ 1941 in G. Legman Limerick (1979) ii. 35 His bollocks grew rough And wrecked his wife's muff, And scratched up her thatch in the scrimmage. 1980 Maledicta IV. 187 To leave the hirci (armpit hairs) and return to the quim whiskers, common terms include..the nostalgic (thatch). |
▪ II. thatch, v. (
θætʃ)
Forms: α. 1
þecc(e)an, 4
thecche, 4–6
theche, 5
thetche, 6–7
thetch (7
dial. thesh). β. 4
þacchen, 5–6
thacche, 5–7
thach(e, 6
thatche, 6–
thatch.
[OE. þęcc(e)an (pa. tense þeahte, þęhte, Vesp. Ps. þæhte, pa. pple. ᵹeþeaht), Common Teutonic vb.; in OFris. bi)thękk(i)a, OS. bi)thęccian (MDu., MLG. decken, Du., LG. dekken), OHG. dęcchan (MHG., Ger. decken), ON. þekja (Sw. täcka, Da. tække):—OTeut. *þakjan, f. *þako{supm} covering, roof, thack n. The regular etymological form is thetch: the literary thatch has app. taken its vowel from thack n. Cf. also the cognate thack v.1, theek v.] † 1. trans. To cover. (Only
OE.)
| Beowulf 514 Þa ᵹit on sund reon þær ᵹit eagor-stream earmum þehton. a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 877 (Gr.) For hwon wast þu wean & wrihst sceome, ᵹesyhst sorᵹe & þin sylf þecest lic mid leafum. c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) cxlvi. 8 Se þe heofen þeceð hadrum wolcnum. |
2. spec. To cover or roof (a house) with straw, reeds, palm-leaves, heather, or the like, laid so as to protect from the weather; also, to cover the top of (a rick or wall) in a similar way.
† Formerly also, to roof (a house) with slates, tiles, or similar roofing material.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. xxxi. (Tollem. MS.), In þe norþe londe men þacchen [ed. 1495 thetche] here houses with reed. ? c 1500 How Plowman lerned his Pater-Noster 19 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 210 He coude theche a hous, and daube a wall. 1555 Eden Decades 101 Their houses are..thetched with the stalkes of certayne towghe herbes. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 491 Reed for to thatch their Houses. 1623–4 Althorp MS. in Simpkinson Washingtons (1860) App. 53 To Phipp one daie theshing the dove house. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 66 The Houses are low, and Thatched with Oleas of the Cocoe-Trees. 1774 Pennant Tour Scot. in 1772 135 Many of the churches are thatched with heath. 1865 Parkman Huguenots iv, The buildings of the fort were all thatched..with leaves of the palmetto. |
3. fig. To cover as with thatch.
| 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet C iv, If that Martin could thatch vp his Church, this mans scabship should bee an Elder. 1604 Middleton Father Hubburd's T. Wks. (Bullen) VIII. 89 My chin was well thatched with a beard. 1614 Gorges Lucan v. 166 Mount æmus now was thatch't with snow. 1662 Hibbert Body of Div. ii. 135 Their faces thatcht over with impudence. 1683 Owen Serm. Chamb. Imagery Wks. 1855 VIII. 584 One lie must be thatched with another, or it will quickly rain through. 1816 Scott Bl. Dwarf i. note, His head..was thatched with no other covering than long matted red hair. 1857 Emerson Poems 26 What if Trade..thatch with towns the prairie broad. 1858 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. i. v. (1872) I. 45 As if there was cloth enough..to thatch the Arctic Zone. |
4. Of a thing: To serve as a covering or roof to; to cover, to roof.
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 242 Sio filmen [of the milt] biþ þeccende & wreonde þa wambe & þa innofaran. 1663 Gerbier Counsel d vj b, Leaves of Trees do thatch their Domiciliums. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. ix, The shock of hair that thatched his head. |
5. intr. To do thatching; to thatch houses.
| 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 232 Somme he tauȝte to tilie to dyche & to thecche. 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 264 To hedge, to ditch, to thrash, to thetch, to mowe. 1795 Aikin & Barbauld Evenings at Home vi. 105 Gubba. Can you thatch? There is a piece blown off the cow-house. Alfred. Alas! I cannot thatch. |
▪ III. thatch variant of
thetch dial., vetch.