▪ I. thrash, thresh, v.
(θræʃ), (θrɛʃ)
Forms: see below.
[OE. þerscan (pa. tense þærsc, þurscon, pa. pple. þorscen), rarely and late þrescan, þryscan; a Common Teutonic verb, = OLG. *þerscan (MLG., MDu., Flem. derschen; also MDu., Du., LG. dorschen, LG. drosken, EFris. dörsken); OHG. dreskan (MHG., Ger. dreschen); ON. þreskja, weak vb. (Norw. treskja, Da. tærske, Sw. tröska); Goth. þriskan (*þrask, *þruskans):—OTeut. *þresk- :—Indo-Eur. *tresk-, exemplified also in Lith. traszketi to rattle, make a noise, Russ. treskat{supi} (refl.) to burst, crash, crackle: cf. OSlav. tresk{pp} n. a crash. The metathesis þersk- for þresk- is found in OE., LG., Du., and Da. The meaning in OTeut. was prob. ‘to tramp or stamp heavily with the feet’, including both the action and the noise, as shown by the senses in which the word was taken into Romanic: Prov. tresc-ar, dresc-ar, It. tresc-are, OF. trescher to dance, Sp., Pg. trisc-ar to make a noise with the feet (see Diez s.v. trescare). The word came to be applied esp. to the act of treading out corn by the feet of men or oxen, and thus to the action of threshing by this or any later method. This is the only sense known in Gothic, OHG., and ONorse; but within historical times the chief mode of threshing was beating with the flail, whence the word came to be applied fig. to knocking, beating, or striking generally, and esp. of a person in battle or in punishment. In English this appears already in the OE. period; in German it is later (Grimm). The historical form in Eng. is thresh; a dialectal variant thrash, faintly represented in early times, came into literary use near the end of the 16th c., and became established in the 17th c., esp. in the sense ‘to beat, flog, or belabour’, for which it is now the ordinary form, while thresh is still largely retained in reference to corn. By this means, to thresh (corn) and to thrash (an offender or an opponent) have become to a considerable extent differentiated, so as almost to be felt as distinct words, esp. since the use of the flail has become so much superseded by mechanical means. Another form throsh, with the vowel of the pa. pple. as in Du. and LG., was frequent in late ME., but is now only dialectal.]
A. Illustration of Forms.
1. Present stem.
(α) 1 þersc(e)an, þirsc-, ðærsc-, ðerhs-, ðearc-, ðearsc-, þearcs-, þrex-, ðryscan; 3 þreoschen, 3–4 þressh-, 4 threisch-, threissch-, 4–5 þresch-, þressch-e(n, 4–6 thresshe, thresche, -yn, threshe, thresse, -yn, 5 thraissh, 6–7 threash, 6– thresh (dial. 6 tress, drayse, draysche, 8–9 draish, dresh).
| a 800 Cynewulf Elene 358 (Gr.) Ða wereᵹan neat, þe man..drifeð and þirsceð. a 850 Ðeh ðu þercce [? þersce] [see B. 1]. c 897 Ðerscað ðone weall [see B. 4]. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark v. 5 Cliopende & ðærscende hine to stanum. Ibid. xiv. 65 Ongunnun..mið fystum vel dyntum hine ᵹeslaa vel ᵹeðearsca [c 975 Rushw. ðarsca]. c 1000 To þerscenne. a 1100 Ðerhsan [see B. 1 b]. a 1100 in Napier O.E. Glosses 212/1 Territat, þearcs. a 1100 Aldhelm Gloss. i. 3433 ibid. 91/2 Triturandos, to þrexen[n]e. a 1225 Ancr. R. 306 Þet seoruwe þreosche him wiðinne þe heorte. 1377, 1382, c 1386 Thresche, threshe, threischinge, thresshe, þressche [see B. 1 b]. 14.. Tretyce in W. of Henley's Husb. (1890) 50 Let yo{supr} thresers be sworne to thresse it clene. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 492/2 Threschyn, trituro, flagello. 1530 Palsgr. 755/2, I thresshe corne in a barne. 15.. Thressyn [see B. 1 b]. 1552 Huloet, Threshe, flagello,..trituro. 1570 Levins Manip. 91/32 To Thresh, triturare. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. i. (S.T.S.) I. 95 Thay thresche na stuf. 1693, 1764, etc. Thresh [see B. 1]. |
(β) (1 ðarscan), 5 thrassh, 6– thrash (8–9 dial. drash).
| c 975 Ðarsca [see α, quot. c 9502]. 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 264 To..thrash, to thetch, to mowe. 1662 J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 390 The men bring it [corn] into the barn, but the women thrash and sell it. 1746 Exmoor Scolding 94 Chell baste tha, chell stram tha, chell drash tha. 1795 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Royal Visit Exeter ii. xiv, He did zo drash about his brain, That was not over stor'd. |
(γ) 5 throsch(e, 5–6 throsh(e, throsshe, throszshe, (8–9 dial. drosh).
| 14.. Chaucer's Prol. 536 (MS. Cambr. G g 4, 27) He wolde throsche. 1486 [implied in Throsheris: see thrasher1 1]. 1495 Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. xviii. xiv. aa viij b/1 They ledyth them [oxen] abowte vpon corne to breke the strawe in throsshyng and tredynge the flour. 1526 Tindale 1 Cor. ix. 10 He which throssheth in hope shulde be part taker of his hope. 1535 Coverdale Hab. iii. 12 Thou trodest downe the londe..and didest throsshe the Heithen. |
2. Past tense.
(α) 1 ðærsc, pl. ðurscon, -un (þurcson, þurhsun), 2 pl. þurscen, 5 pl. throsshen; 8–9 Sc. thruish, threush (-{obar}-).
| a 900 O.E. Martyrol. 7 Mar. 36 He..corn þærsc ond þæt windwode. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark xii. 5 Sume ðurscun oðero æc ofsloᵹon. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke xxii. 64 Þa..ofer-wruᵹon hys ansyne & þurhsun [v.r. þurcson, c 1160 Hatton G. þurscen] his nebb. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. lxxiv. (1869) 43 Manye..throsshen it and fanned it. 1815 Threush [B. 3 b]. Mod. Sc. He thruish aa' day i' the barn. |
(β) (weak conj.) 4–5 thresched, 6 threashed, (throszshed), 6– threshed, thrashed.
| c 1400 Thresched [see B. 4 b]. 1535 Coverdale 1 Chron. xxii. [xxi.] 20 Arnan throszshed wheate. 1560 Bible (Genev.) Judg. vi. 11 Gideon threashed [1611 threshed] wheat. 1577 Holinshed Chron. II. 639/1 Sundrie..came to theyr Barnes, threshed vp theyr grayne. 1633 Thresht [see B. 2]. |
3. Past participle.
(α) 1 *þorscen, 2 iþor(s)chen; 3 i-ðrosschen, (Orm.) þrosshenn, 4 ithrosshen, i-þrosschen, y-þorsse, throsshe, 5 throsshen, (trosshyn), 6 throshen, 9 Sc. thruishen (-{obar}-).
| c 1175 Iþor[s]chen [see B. 2]. c 1200 Ormin 1530 Þa winndwesst tu þin þrosshenn corn. a 1225 Iðrosschen [see B. 5]. 1340 Y-þorsse [see B. 1, 4]. 13.. Propr. Sanct. (Vernon MS.) in Herrig Archiv LXXXI. 83/26 Hit is brouht hom til a Berne, Hard I-þrosschen in an hurne. 1584 Shuttleworth's Acc. (Chetham Soc.) i. 21 When the same [corn] was throshen xiij{supd}. Mod. Sc. When the last stack was thruishen. |
(β) 5–6 thresshen, (5 (i)thresshe, ythrysshe), 6 threshoone, 7 Sc. threaschin, 8 Sc. threshen.
| 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 5412 Tyl the thressherys..Hadde thys greyn ythrysshe & bete. c 1450 Godstow Reg. 649 The corn that is wonyd to be gyf I-thresshe. c 1450 Oseney Reg. 144, I and myne heyres schall make it to Be thresshe. 1523 Fitzherb. Husb. §13 Whan it is thresshen, there is moche lyght corne. 1599 Nottingham Rec. IV. 251 All the corne..threshoone and vnthreshoone. 1629 Orkney Witch Trial in County Folk-Lore (1903) III. 77 Edward Rendall..said thair was nane [corn] threa[s]chin. 1720 T. Boston Fourfold St. (1797) 135 The corn of my floor threshen in the floor of wrath. |
(γ) (weak conj.) 4 threschid, threischid, 6 (tressyd), thresht(e, 6– threshed, thrashed (7 thrasht).
| 1382 Threschid [see B. 2]. 1538 in Lett. Suppress. Monasteries (Camden) 176 Sum is threshte,..and mych is yit to threshe. 1544 in I. S. Leadam Sel. Cases Crt. Requests (1898) 76 The said Baylyf causyd the same pease to be tressyd. a 1625 Thrasht [see B. 5 β]. |
B. Signification. I. To thresh (thrash) corn, etc. and directly derived senses.
1. To separate by any mechanical means, e.g. rubbing, shaking, trampling, stamping, beating, or intermittent pressure, the grains of any cereal from the husks and straw; esp. by beating with a flail; now (from the latter part of the eighteenth century) also by the action of revolving mechanism in a mill or machine. Also, to shake out or separate in the same way the seed of any plant.
The verb was in early times applied to the trampling and stamping of oxen, or the dragging of heavy rugged things, over the corn laid on a smooth surface or ‘floor’.
a. trans.
| α a 850 Kentish Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 83/35–7 Ðeh ðu þercce [for þersce] swa berecorn ðerccedum [for ðerscendum]. c 1200 Ormin 1500 Þa þresshesst tu þin corn wiþþ fleȝȝl. 1340 Ayenb. 139 Of þe hyeape of huete y-þorsse, þe cornes byeþ beneþ e and þet chef above. c 1450 Lydg. Secrees 1436 Afftir hervest..men thresshe shevys. 1530, 1596 [see A. 1 α]. 1693 Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. II. 163 Cutting off all the Seed stems, and when they are dried, threshing out the Seed. 1764 Museum Rust. II. lxxvi. 260 How he lets his corn to thresh by the great. 1845 Ford Handbk. Spain i. 25 The modern system of threshing grain in Spain is extremely ancient, classical, and Oriental. 1880 W. Newton Serm. Boys & Girls (1881) 219 He had a number of men engaged in threshing wheat. |
| β 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iii. 123 First thrash the Corne, then after burne the straw. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 1008 Husbandmen are affraid to thrash their wheat upon a dry and sandy floore, because of ants. 1662 [see A. 1 β]. 1846 J. Baxter's Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. 337 The [turnip] seed may then be..stacked and thrashed when wanted. 1877 Knight Dict. Mech. 2555/2 Doura, sorghum, or flax was thrashed by drawing across a comb-like instrument. |
b. absol. or intr.
| α c 1000 ælfric's Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 147/14 Area, breda þiling, uel flor on to þerscenne. a 1100 Gerefa in Anglia (1886) IX. 261 Mæniᵹe inweorc wyrcean, ðerhsan, wudu cleofan. a 1300 Cursor M. 4744 (Cott.) Ioseph þat was ful o pite Did thresche [v. rr. þresshe, threche] son in þat contre. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 553 Some tyme I sowe and some tyme I thresche. 1382 Wyclif Micah iv. 13 Ryse thou, and threshe, douȝter of Syon. ― 1 Cor. ix. 9 Thou schalt not bynde the mouth of the oxe threischinge [1388 that threischith]. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 536 He wolde thresshe [v. rr. throsche, þressche] and ther to dyke and delue. 15.. Ragman Roll 53 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 72 Whoo so lyst may thressyn in your berne. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 70 ¶10 He, whose task is to reap and thresh. |
| β 1591 [see A. 1 β]. 1755 Johnson, To thrash, v.n. |
c. intr. for pass. Of corn: To bear threshing; to be threshed.
| 1760 R. Brown Compl. Farmer ii. 72 The weeds..will..cause it [rye] not to thrash well. Ibid. 81. |
2. fig.; in earlier use sometimes with reference to ancient modes of threshing. to thresh (thrash) straw, to work at what is unproductive or unprofitable; also to thresh over old straw.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 85 In þe deie of liureisun hwense god almihtin wule windwin þet er wes iþor[s]chen. 1382 Wyclif Isa. xxv. 10 Threschid shal ben Moab vnder hym, as ben to-treden strawes in a wayn. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. xi. xxiv, She..Drove farre their flying troops, and thresht with iron flail. 1777 Garrick Prol. Sheridan's Sch. Scand. 11 All night at cards when threshing Strong tea and scandal. 1857 Pusey Real Presence i. (1869) 144 Bruick said,..‘as to the King himself [Hen. VIII] it was to thresh an empty ear’. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) I. iv. 73 Why plague thyself with threshing straw forever? a 1876 Binorie O an Binorie iii. in Child Ballads i. (1882) 133/1 O sister, O sister, will ye go to the dams, To hear the blackbird thrashin oer his songs? |
b. to thresh (thrash) out (a subject, etc.), to discuss (a matter) exhaustively, to argue thoroughly; to get at the truth of (a question) by discussion or argument.
| 1882 C. Pebody Eng. Journalism xxiii. 186 There is hardly a question..that is not now completely thrashed out in the Press long before it reaches Parliament. 1884 Law Times 15 Mar. 353/1 Every case thoroughly thrashed out. 1885 Sir C. S. C. Bowen in Law Rep. 29 Ch. Div. 810 That point had been threshed out before Mr. Justice Pearson. 1893 Spectator 18 Mar. 349 The matter should have been thoroughly threshed out. |
3. transf. a. To beat or strike as with a flail: see quots. and cf. 5.
| α 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 180 At Shroftide to shrouing, go thresh the fat hen. 1707 J. Stevens tr. Quevedo's Com. Wks. (1709) R ij, Condemn'd to thresh the Sea, that is to the Gallies. 1867 F. Francis Angling v. (1880) 153 The angler goes on threshing the water. |
| β 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 171 Swarms of Gnats, Mus-ke-toes, and such like.., stung and pesterd us..; they biting us, we thrashing them like mad folks. 1697 Dryden Virg. Past. ii. 73 Myself will..thrash the Chesnuts in the Neighb'ring Grove. 1823 F. Cooper Pioneers i, The black..began thrashing his arms together, in order to restore the circulation. |
b. intr. To deliver or inflict blows as with a flail; to strike or beat on or at. (With quot. 1693 cf. beat v.1 26 b.)
| 1693 Dryden Juvenal's Sat. x. 194, I rather wou'd be Mævius, thrash for Rhimes Like his,..Than that Philippique..should be mine. 1815 G. Beattie John o' Arnha' (1826) 33 He scourg'd the water wi' his tail, An' threush on John as wi' a flail. 1905 F. Young Sands Pleas. iii. ii, Richard..walked out of the graveyard, threshing at the nettles with his stick. |
† 4. a. trans. To beat, batter, strike, knock. Also fig. Obs. exc. as in 3.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xxi. 160 Send ðærto ᵹefylceo, & ðerscað ðone weall mid rammum. a 950 Rituale Eccl. Dunelm. (Surtees) 6 Svæ ic fehto no svoelce lyft ðerscende [non quasi æram (Vulg. aerem) verberans]. a 1000 Sal. & Sat. (Kemble) 148 Se ðunor hit ðrysceð mid ðære fyrenan æcxe. 1340 Ayenb. 266 Vram þ0 lyȝte byeþ y-þorsse mine eȝen. a 1400–50 Alexander 1326 He laschis out a lange swerde..Threschis doun in a thrawe many threuyn dukis. |
† b. intr. To strike, inflict blows on. Obs.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2300 Wy þresch on, þou þro mon, þou þretez to longe. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 16912 Echon on other dong & thresched. |
II. To beat a person, an army, etc. Now commonly thrash.
5. a. trans. To beat by way of punishment; to chastise by or as by beating; to flog, orig. with a stick, cudgel, whip, etc.; in mod. use also to pommel with the fists. Also transf. and fig.
| α a 950 Rituale Eccl. Dunelm. (Surtees) 43 Ðv ðe rehtlice ðv ðersces synfvllo [qui juste verberas peccatores]. a 1225 Ancr. R. 186 Hendi children þet cusseð þe ȝerden þet he haueð ou mid iðrosschen. a 1400 Octouian 764 With a staf Y wol the thressche. 1647 Trapp Comm. Epistles 366 Gideon by threshing the men of Succoth, taught them [etc.]. 1806–7 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life xxi. xvii, Learning to box, too—i.e. feeing a great raw-boned fellow to thresh you as long as he can stand over you. |
| β a 1625 Fletcher Nice Valour iii. iii, Oh gentlemen y'are welcom: I have been thrasht i' faith... Never was Shrove-tuesday Bird So cudgel'd gentlemen. 1733 Fielding Mock Doctor iv, Take a good cudgel, and thrash him with it. 1739 ‘R. Bull’ tr. Dedekindus' Grobianus 168 A Wife, an Ass, a Walnut-tree ('tis thought) Except they're thrash'd, are never good for ought. 1833 Marryat P. Simple x, O'Brien..was very kind to me in general, and allowed nobody to thrash me but himself. 1866 Geo. Eliot F. Holt i, I always meant to..thrash a lord or two who thrashed me at Eton. 1885 Manch. Exam. 11 Nov. 3/3 The deacon..thrashes him for wasting his time. |
b. In colloq. phrases, as to thrash one's jacket, to thrash the life out of (cf. beat v.1 15).
| 1687 T. Brown Saints in Uproar Wks. 1730 I. 74 I'll substantially thrash your jacket for you. 1873 Black Pr. Thule xvii, If you were half-a-dozen years older, I would thrash the life out of you. |
6. To beat completely or thoroughly (beat v.1 10); to defeat or overcome with severe loss in war or fighting, or at a game or contest.
| α 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. ii. i. 50 Thou scuruy valiant Asse, thou art heere but to thresh Troyans. 1721 Amherst Terræ Fil. No. 13. (1754) 66 They could either thresh corn, or their country's enemies. |
| β 1778 Lady S. Lennox Lett. (1901) I. 279 Send them home to thrash the French. 1796 Nelson in Nicolas Disp. (1845) II. 256, I shall..take my chance of helping to thrash Don Langara. 1841 Lever C. O'Malley lxxii, We had been attacked by the French in force and devilishly well thrashed. 1863 Kingsley Water Bab. i, [He] could have thrashed Mr. Grimes himself in fair fight. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 276 The Colonel..has just been thrashing me at billiards. 1903 Westm. Gaz. 14 Apr. 2/3 [incident of June 1815] It touched land, and a man jumped out waving his hat and exclaiming, ‘Hurrah, Wellington has thrashed Boney!’ |
III. Transferred uses, often referring to both I and II. Usually thrash.
7. a. intr. Naut. To force or work one's way against opposing wind, tide, etc.; = beat v.1 19; said of a ship or of mariners. Also trans. with way. Also refl. and fig.
| α 1857 Dufferin Lett. High Lat. v. (ed. 3) 28 We had to return..to our old practice of threshing to windward. |
| β 1830 P. Hawker Diary (1893) II. 15 Hard labour to..thrash for an hour through blocks of ice before we could get out. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho. xx, The ship thrashed close-hauled through the rolling seas. 1890 Clark Russell Marriage at Sea xiii, The steamer was thrashing through it at an exhilarating speed. 1900 Daily News 15 Oct. 6/7 The Nuddea encountered the typhoon some distance to the southward of Hong Kong, and..had to thrash her way through it. 1939 T. S. Eliot Family Reunion i. ii. 60 The fish Thrashing itself upstream. |
b. trans. To force (a ship) forward, esp. against contrary wind or sea. Cf. beat v.1 19 d.
| α 1886 Daily Tel. 23 Apr. 2/1 The captain threshes his great structure through the deep. |
| β 1891 Kipling Light that Failed xv. 310 The screw began to thrash the ship along the Docks. 1893 ― Many Invent. 365 Carry on and thrash her out with all she'll stand. |
8. intr. To make wild movements like those of a flail or a whip; to lash out; to throw oneself (or itself) to and fro with violence; to toss, plunge; of hair, branches, or anything free at one end: to flap, whip, lash; esp. with about or around. Also fig. and trans. (refl.) with into.
| 1846 Boston Courier 17 June 2/4 Arter I'd gone to bed & heern Him a thrashin round like a short tailed Bull in fli time. 1850 Scoresby Cheever's Whalem. Adv. v. (1858) 74 [A whale] blindly thrashed and rolled about in great agony. 1875 Ld. Shaftesbury in Life (1886) III. xxxiii. 354 He [a preacher] thrashed with his arms, as though he were about to strike. 1883 C. F. Holder in Harper's Mag. Jan. 186/2 The shark squirmed out, thrashing about and snapping its jaws. 1884 ‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn vi. 45 He didn't go sound asleep, but was uneasy. He groaned, and moaned, and thrashed around this way and that. 1891 Kipling Light that Failed i. 13 A night-wind thrashed along the bents of the foreshore. Ibid. xiii. 244 The red-haired girl threshed distressfully across the sheets. 1896 Boston (Mass.) Jrnl. 11 Jan. 4/8 The wounded bears were kicking and thrashing around me. 1897 Crockett Lad's Love xxiii, The wind unloosed the banded hair and blew it about.., till it threshed in the man's face and annoyed him. 1900 N. Munro in Blackw. Mag. Nov. 656/1 They saw the boughs thrash and the tree tops rise and fall like billows round the village. 1962 K. A. Porter Ship of Fools 178 He groans and yells and thrashes about at night. 1962 K. Kesey One Flew over Cuckoo's Nest iv. 309 It fought a long time against having it taken away, flailing and thrashing around. 1973 Times 12 Nov. 11/8 His is in many ways a sad life to watch, as he thrashes around for the opening that will bring him fame. 1978 R. Barnard Unruly Son xvii. 190 This little detail panicked you..and then you started thrashing around... You did silly things. |
| refl. 1865 Bushnell Vicar. Sacr. iii. v. (1868) 327 A broken engine by running will only thresh itself into a more complete wreck. |
Hence thrashed, threshed ppl. a.
| [c 1200 Þrosshenn corn: see A. 3 α.] 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 147 They..put some of the Chaff in first, and then their thrashed Wheat. 1805 Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 48 A large quantity of thrashed grain is seldom kept. 1867 F. Francis Angling vi. (1880) 193 One of our well-thrashed streams. |
▪ II. thrash, thresh, n.1
[f. prec. vb.]
† 1. ? A threshing implement, a flail: cf. threshel.
| 1669 Penn No Cross xviii. §10 (1682) 368 That the Cart, the Plough, the Thrash should be in that continual Severity laid upon Nineteen parts of the Land, to feed the inordinate Lusts and delicious Appetites of the Twentieth. |
2. a. An act or the action of thrashing or threshing; a blow, stroke, knock; a beat or beating.
| 1840 Hood Kilmansegg, Fancy Ball iii, Tories like to worry the Whigs,..Giving them lashes, thrashes, and digs. 1898 Blackw. Mag. Sept. 376 It [a boat's progress] was a long monotonous thresh for the rest of the afternoon. 1899 Crockett Black Douglas xlii. 305 The thresh of the rain upon the lattice casement. 1902 J. Masefield Salt-Water Ball., D Avalos' Prayer iii, The wash and thresh of the sea⁓foam. 1906 Outlook 20 Oct. 511/2 A thrash of rain. |
b. fig. A dash.
| 1870 J. K. Hunter Life Stud. Charac. xxxv, I appeared in the court..wi' a thrash, and had the case settled in a jiffy. |
c. In reduplicated form thresh-thresh, representing the continuous sound of threshing.
| 1904 Blackw. Mag. Apr. 485 A rhythmic thresh-thresh that had accompanied but hardly broken the silence, suddenly ceased. |
3. A party, esp. one that is lavish or unrestrained. (Regularly thrash). slang.
| 1957 G. Smith Friends 120, I think he stole away to London for an occasional thrash when it got too much for him, but in general he was a model pupil. 1968 K. Amis I want it Now ii. 68 No quiet family party at all, it had turned out, but a twenty-cover thrash. 1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 6 Feb. 131/3 Staggering..from his sick-bed to play host at an enormous black-tie thrash at a Belgravia mansion borrowed for the night. 1980 C. Matthew Loosely Engaged 17 Occasionally someone throws a thrash, but most of the time we just bomb round to Wedgies..and have a bit of a giggle. |
Add: [2.] d. A short, energetic, usu. uncomplicated piece or passage of jazz or rock music, esp. one that is very fast and loud.
| 1969 Punch 12 Feb. 245/3 Brian Davies then appeared..to indulge in what was announced as free form improvisation and turned out to be a vaguely modal thrash headed by Lynn Dobson on flute and soprano saxophone. 1986 Radio Times 20 Dec. 155/3 When he toured in 1978, audiences were astounded to hear his early folk ramble ‘Masters of war’ reworked as a heavy rock thrash. 1989 Melody Maker 25 Nov. 19/1 What I don't get is why The Pastels are still struggling to get to grips with the most basic of three-cord thrashes. |
e. A style of fast, loud, harsh-sounding rock music; = thrash metal below; also attrib.
| 1982 N.Y. Times 11 Aug. c19/2 A year ago they were pop-music underdogs, an all-woman band with roots in the anarchic thrash of the Los Angeles punk-rock scene. 1984 Sounds 29 Dec. 6/6 Hard-core-thrash merchants Black Flag are to release a new LP. 1987 Melody Maker 15 Aug. 10/1 The new single is not a racket. ‘It's a bit more refined... We're a subtle mixture of thrash and melody.’ 1988 Time Off (Brisbane) 19 Feb. 15/2 (Advt.), Totally happening Melbourne based glam thrash all-girl rock n roll phenomenon searching for wild drummer... Come on girls! Grab this chance. |
4. A motor-sport race, esp. one that is particularly fast and exciting. colloq.
| 1976 Milton Keynes Express 25 June 50/6 Tony Strawson won the Esso Uniflo Special Saloon thrash in his V8-engined Capri—which is currently up for sale. 1986 Road Sport Aug. 14/1 Seventy five crews assembled in Richmond town square to tackle the 120 mile thrash on maps 92, 93, 98 and 99. 1987 Super Bike June 6/4 This should have been indication enough that the ride was going to be fast, but no one could have predicted the brain out thrash that started the moment we left the car park. |
5. Special Comb. thrash metal, a style of fast, loud, harsh-sounding rock music combining elements from both punk rock and heavy metal.
| 1985 Venue 26 Apr. 43 The band played an excellent set of high-speed *thrash metal and were very well received. 1987 Guardian 20 Mar. 19/3 The success of the likes of Metallica and Anthrax suggests that thrash metal is about to find itself in a conundrum, coping with commercial success born from a noise designed to outrage. 1989 New Yorker 23 Oct. 15/2 This room, which caters to thrash-metal buffs and cooler heads on weeknights, opens its doors on Sundays to swing-music fans. |
▪ III. thrash, thresh, n.2 Sc.
Also 7 thrush.
[corrupt. of rash, resh, OE. risc, rush n.1]
A rush. Also attrib., thresh-bush, a clump of rushes.
| 1697 Cleland Poems 30 (Jam.) Their bare preaching now Makes the thrush-bush keep the cow. 1795 A. Wilson Spouter in Poems & Lit. Prose (1876) II. 335 Green thrashes were strewed on the floor. 1822 R. Wilson Poems, Twa Mice (E.D.D.), Wi' their teeth green threshes chackit. 1850 J. Struthers Life vi. Poet. Wks. I. p. cxiv, The shelter of a few well-grown thresh-bushes. 1871 H. S. Riddell Poet. Wks. II. 127 (E.D.D.) Threshes formed the theekin. |