thresh

Etymology

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.

verb

1. (transitive, agriculture) 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. (transitive, literary) To beat soundly, usually with some tool such as a stick or whip; to drub.
3. (intransitive, literary) To violently toss the limbs about.
   The jay fell all lopsidedly and threshing, as though it were having a fit. The ground killed it. 1967, J. A. Baker, The Peregrine, page 41