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thresh

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

6 characters

Language

English

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "thresh", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "thresh" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "thresh" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

thresh is aEnglishverb. It means: To separate the grain from the straw or husks (chaff) by mechanical beating, with a flail or machinery, or by driving animals over them. Pronounced /θɹɛʃ/.

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Key facts for thresh
PropertyValue
Headwordthresh
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/θɹɛʃ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#75,489
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of thresh in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for thresh is 6 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /θɹɛʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #75,489 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

No frequent misspelling variants are recorded for thresh in our index, suggesting the orthography either follows predictable English patterns or the word is uncommon enough that typo corpora lack signal.It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *terh₁-der.? Proto-Germanic *þreskaną Old English þrescan Middle English threschen English thresh From Middle English thresshen, threshen, threschen, from Old English þrescan, from Proto-Germanic *þreskaną. Compare West Fr… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is thresh, spelled T-H-R-E-S-H, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To separate the grain from the straw or husks (chaff) by mechanical beating, with a flail or machinery, or by driving animals over them.
  2. 2
    To separate the grain from the straw or husks (chaff) by mechanical beating, with a flail or machinery, or by driving animals over them.
  3. 3
    To beat soundly, usually with some tool such as a stick or whip; to drub.
  4. 4
    To violently toss the limbs about.
  5. 5
    To belabor; to go over repeatedly, especially an argument.
  6. 6
    To drive through adverse conditions (wind, waves).

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *terh₁-der.? Proto-Germanic *þreskaną Old English þrescan Middle English threschen English thresh From Middle English thresshen, threshen, threschen, from Old English þrescan, from Proto-Germanic *þreskaną. Compare West Frisian terskje, Dutch dorsen, Low German dörschen, German dreschen, Danish tærske, Swedish tröska, Yiddish דרעשן (dreshn). Doublet of thrash.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Frequency rank: #75,489 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "thresh"?
"thresh" is spelled T-H-R-E-S-H. The IPA pronunciation is /θɹɛʃ/.
What does "thresh" mean?
As a verb, "thresh" means: To separate the grain from the straw or husks (chaff) by mechanical beating, with a flail or machinery, or by driving animals over them.
How do you pronounce "thresh"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "thresh" is /θɹɛʃ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "thresh"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *terh₁-der.? Proto-Germanic *þreskaną Old English þrescan Middle English threschen English thresh From Middle English thresshen, threshen, threschen, from Old English þrescan, from Proto-Germanic *þreskaną. Compa... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.