thrash

1 of 2

verb

ˈthrash 

thrashed; thrashing; thrashes

transitive verb

1

a

: to beat soundly with or as if with a stick or whip : flog

b

: to defeat decisively or severely

thrashed the visiting team

2

: to swing, beat, or strike in the manner of a rapidly moving flail

thrashing his arms

3

a

: to go over again and again

thrash the matter over inconclusively

b

: to hammer out : forge

thrash out a plan

4

: to separate the seeds of from the husks and straw by beating : thresh sense 1

intransitive verb

1

: to move or stir about violently : toss about

thrash in bed with a fever

2

: to deal blows or strokes like one using a flail or whip

3

: thresh sense 1

thrash

2 of 2

noun

1

: an act of thrashing

2

: rock music (such as heavy metal or punk rock) that is extremely fast and loud

Synonyms

Verb

• bury
• whip
• beat
• overcome
• throw
• bomb
• clobber
• trounce
• smother
• rout
• master
• annihilate
• upset
• flatten
• dust
• blow away
• trim
• cream
• whup
• drub
• skin
• wallop
• smoke [slang]
• snow under
• take
• overwhelm
• top
• paste

Choose the Right Synonym for thrash

swing, wave, flourish, brandish, thrash mean to wield or cause to move to and fro or up and down.

swing implies regular or uniform movement.

swing the rope back and forth

wave usually implies smooth or continuous motion.

waving the flag

flourish suggests vigorous, ostentatious, graceful movement.

flourished the winning lottery ticket

brandish implies threatening or menacing motion.

brandishing a knife

thrash suggests vigorous, abrupt, violent movement.

an infant thrashing his arms about

Examples of thrash in a Sentence

Verb

He thrashed me with his belt.

The team thrashed them last week.

Something was thrashing wildly in the water.

She thrashed around in her sleep.

Noun

The shark swam away with a thrash of its tail.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

The finned behemoth began to thrash, but Kopanetskyi held firm, shushing it softly in Russian. —Kylie Williams, Miami Herald, 29 June 2025

Photos and video posted by onlookers to social media show the bison appear to thrash around before slipping into the spring's waters, behind a curtain of steam. —Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 27 June 2025

Noun

In my own projects, that trade—less GPU thrash, more human rigor—has been the difference between a model that merely ships and one that actually feels aligned with its users. —Ashutosh Synghal, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2025

Metallica bassist Rob Trujillo, who was a member of Osbourne’s band for years, confirmed that the thrash metal band members were among those in attendance at the ceremony in a poignant Instagram post paying tribute to his late bandmate. —Mekishana Pierre, EW.com, 5 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Verb

alteration of thresh

First Known Use

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 3

Noun

1840, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing thrash

• thrash out

Rhymes for thrash

• ash
• bash
• brash
• cache
• cash
• clash
• crash
• dash
• flash
• gash
• hash
• lash

Kids Definition

thrash

verb

ˈthrash

1

: thresh sense 1

2

a

: to strike forcefully especially with a long instrument (as a whip) : flog

b

: to defeat decisively or severely

thrashed the visiting team

3

: to move or stir about violently

something was thrashing wildly in the water

4

: to go over again and again

thrash the matter over

thrash out a plan