English Dictionary — Definitions & Meanings

threes

noun

The age of three years old.

threeside

noun

A shape with three sides; a triangle.

threesome

noun

A group made up of three people or things.

threnetic

adj

(formal) Connected to a threne.

threnody

noun

A song or poem mourning someone who has died.

thresh

verb

To beat crops so the grain comes away from the straw or husks, using a flail, machinery, or animals driven over them.

thresher

noun

A farm machine that separates grain from the rest of the plant, now usually part of a combine harvester.

threshold

noun

The strip or slab at the bottom of a doorway that you step over to enter.

thrice

adv

Three times.

thrift

noun

Careful, economical use of money; avoiding waste.

thriftiness

noun

The quality of being thrifty with money.

thrifting

noun

The activity of shopping for second-hand clothes and other goods in charity shops, thrift stores and similar places, both to save money and to find unusual items.

thriftless

adj

Careless and wasteful with money or resources.

thrifty

adj

Careful with money; avoiding unnecessary spending or waste.

thrill

verb

To give someone a sudden rush of excitement or pleasure.

thrilled

adj

Very excited or delighted about something.

thriller

noun

A book, film, or play built around suspense, danger, and excitement.

thrilling

adj

Extremely exciting.

thrillsville

noun

An imaginary or general place full of excitement.

thrilly

adj

Causing excitement or a thrill.

thring

verb

To push hard against something, or squeeze it.

thrive

verb

To grow strong and healthy, or to flourish.

thriving

adj

Growing or developing very successfully; flourishing.

throat

noun

The front part of the neck, or the passage inside it leading from the mouth to the lungs and stomach.

throb

verb

To beat or pulse strongly and repeatedly, often with pain.

throbbing

adj

Beating or pulsing strongly and rhythmically, often used to describe pain.

throe

noun

A sudden, intense spasm of pain, like those felt in labour contractions or in the last moments before dying.

thrombosis

noun

The formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel, which can block normal blood flow.

thrombus

noun

A clot of blood that forms inside a blood vessel and can block blood flow.

throne

noun

The ceremonial chair used by a monarch, pope, or bishop.

throng

noun

A large, densely packed crowd of people.

throstle

noun

Another name for the song thrush.

throttle

noun

A valve or lever that controls how much fuel or air reaches an engine, and therefore its speed.

throttler

noun

A person or thing that throttles something.

throttling

noun

The deliberate slowing down of data speed on a network to reduce congestion.

through

prep

Moving from one side or end of something to the other.

throughout

prep

In every part of something, or during the whole of a period of time.

throughput

noun

The speed at which data passes through a system.

throughway

noun

A wide main road designed for fast-moving traffic.

throw

verb

To send an object through the air using force from your hand or arm.

throwaway

adj

Designed to be used once and then discarded.

throwback

noun

Something or someone that recalls or resembles an earlier era or stage.

thrower

noun

A person or thing that throws something, especially in sports such as athletics.

throwing

noun

The act of hurling something through the air.

thrown

adj

Sent through the air by throwing.

throwster

noun

A person whose job is twisting silk thread ready for weaving.

thrum

noun

A low humming or vibrating sound.

thrush

noun

A songbird, often brown-speckled, from a family that includes the song thrush and the American robin.

thrust

noun

A sudden strong push or lunge forward.

thruster

noun

A small engine used to steer or position a spacecraft, ship, or submarine.

thrusters

noun

Small engines used to steer or position a vehicle such as a spacecraft or ship.

thrusting

noun

The action of pushing forcefully forward.

thrutch

verb

To push or shove something forcefully.

thruway

noun

A standard form of throughway.

thud

noun

A dull, heavy sound, like something soft or solid hitting a surface.

thudding

noun

A repeated dull, heavy banging sound.

thug

noun

A violent, aggressive criminal, often acting as part of a gang.

thug life

noun

A defiant outlaw attitude and way of living associated with hip-hop culture, marked by surviving poverty and violence without apology and refusing to bow to authority.

Thule

name

A name given by ancient geographers to a mythical or semi-legendary land in the far north, and later the name of a settlement in Greenland.

thulium

noun

A fairly soft, easily worked metallic element with the symbol Tm and atomic number 69.

thumb

noun

The short, thick digit of the hand, set apart from the other four fingers.

Thumbelina

name

The main character of a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale about a girl no bigger than a thumb.

thumbnail

noun

The fingernail on the thumb.

thumbprint

noun

The mark left by pressing a thumb onto a surface, used to identify a person.

thumbtack

noun

A small tack with a slightly rounded head, pressed into place with the thumb to hold light items on a wall or noticeboard.

thumby

noun

A small thumb, or an affectionate word for a thumb.

thump

noun

A heavy blow, or the dull sound it makes.

thumper

noun

Someone or something that thumps, especially a large single-cylinder motorcycle engine.

thumping

adj

Very large or impressive; used to emphasize something.

thunder

noun

The deep rumbling or cracking sound that follows a lightning bolt, caused by rapidly heated air expanding.

thunderbird

noun

A giant, storm-bringing bird from Indigenous North American mythology, said to create thunder with its wingbeats and lightning with its eyes.

thunderbolt

noun

A flash of lightning together with the crash of thunder that comes with it.

thunderbox

noun

A covered container used as a portable toilet.

thunderclap

noun

A single sudden loud crash of thunder from a nearby lightning strike, rather than a long rumble.

thundering

adj

Making a loud rumbling sound like thunder.

thunderous

adj

Extremely loud, like thunder.

thunderously

adv

Very loudly, like thunder.

thunderstorm

noun

A storm featuring thunder and lightning, usually with heavy rain, wind, and sometimes hail.

thunk

intj

Used to represent the dull sound of a heavy object hitting something and stopping abruptly.

thunking

noun

The employment of thunks, which are mappings of data.

Thurber

name

An English surname, most notably borne by American humorist and cartoonist James Thurber.

Thurgood

name

A masculine given name of Old English origin, notably borne by Thurgood Marshall, the first Black U.S. Supreme Court justice.

thurify

verb

To fill a place with the smoke of burning incense.

Thurman

name

A surname and masculine given name of Old English origin meaning "servant of Thor."

thurmond

name

The name of a unincorporated community in Wilkes County, North Carolina, United States.

Thursday

noun

The day of the week between Wednesday and Friday.

Thursdays

adv

On Thursday, or every Thursday.

thurse

noun

A huge giant, or a ghostly and frightening figure.

thurstan

name

A surname of Old Norse origin.

Thurston

name

An English surname and given name derived from an Old Norse name meaning "Thor's stone."

thus

adv

In this way or manner.

thusly

adv

In this way.

thwack

verb

To hit someone or something hard, especially with something flat like a stick or bat.

thwacking

noun

The act or sound of hitting something hard.

thwart

verb

To stop someone from succeeding at a plan; to block or frustrate it.

thwarted

adj

Blocked or prevented from succeeding.

thwarten

verb

To stand against something or get in its way.

thy

determiner

An old-fashioned or poetic word for "your," used with a singular person you are addressing.

thyme

noun

A small aromatic herb used to flavour cooking, or the plant it comes from.

thymus

noun

A gland in the upper chest, beneath the breastbone, that is most active during puberty and helps the immune system develop by producing lymphocytes.

thyroid

noun

A gland in the neck that produces hormones controlling metabolism.

thyroidal

adj

Relating to or affecting the thyroid gland.

thyself

pron

An old-fashioned word for "yourself," used with "thou."

ti

noun

The seventh note of a major musical scale in solfège (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti).

Tia

name

A feminine given name, often a short form of names like Tiana or Letitia, also the Spanish word for "aunt."

tian

noun

A shallow earthenware baking dish traditionally used in Provence, or a dish of layered baked vegetables cooked in one.

Tiana

name

A feminine given name, a variant of Tatiana, popularized further by the Disney character Princess Tiana.

Tianjin

name

A major port city in northern China, near Beijing.

tiara

noun

A jewelled, crown-like headpiece worn by women on formal occasions.

tib

noun

(dated) A woman from a working-class background.

Tibbs

name

An English surname derived from "Tibb," a medieval short form of Theobald.

Tiber

name

The river that flows through Rome, Italy.

Tiberius

name

A masculine given name of Latin origin, borne by the second emperor of Rome, derived from the Tiber river.

Tibet

name

A high-altitude region in Central Asia, largely within China, and home to the Tibetan people.

Tibetan

adj

Relating to Tibet, its people, or its language.

tibia

noun

The shinbone — the larger of the two bones between the knee and ankle.

tic

noun

A sudden, repeated, involuntary movement or sound.

tick

noun

A small blood-feeding arachnid that attaches to the skin of animals and humans.

ticked

adj

Annoyed or irritated (informal).

ticker

noun

A scrolling display or strip that shows continuously updating information, such as stock prices or news headlines.

ticket

noun

A small printed or digital pass that allows entry to an event, or travel on transport.

ticking

noun

A tightly woven, durable fabric used to cover mattresses and pillows.

tickle

verb

To touch someone lightly and repeatedly in a way that causes laughter, twitching, or discomfort.

tickled

adj

Very pleased or delighted.

tickling

noun

The act of touching someone lightly to make them laugh or squirm, or a sensation similar to this.

ticklish

adj

Easily made to laugh or squirm when touched lightly; sensitive to tickling.

Tico

adj

Costa Rican; relating to Costa Rica or its people.

tidal

adj

Relating to, caused by, or affected by the tides.

tidbit

noun

A small, tasty piece of food.

tidder

verb

To treat someone gently and affectionately.

tiddle

verb

To handle gently, stroke affectionately, or hand-rear a young animal.

tiddler

noun

A person who is small.

tide

noun

The regular rise and fall of the sea, caused mainly by the gravitational pull of the moon and sun.

tidely

adv

Cleverly, smartly, bravely, quickly, speedily, or soon.

tidy

adj

Neatly arranged; not messy or cluttered.

tidying

noun

The process of making something neat and organized.

tie

noun

A narrow strip of fabric worn around the neck, usually with a shirt collar, as an item of formal clothing.

tiebreaker

noun

A method or extra round used to decide a winner when scores are tied.

tied

adj

Closely linked or connected to something else.

Tien

name

A given name of Vietnamese and Chinese origin, often meaning "heaven" or "first."

tier

noun

One of a series of levels or rows, especially arranged one above another.

tierce

noun

The name for the third of the traditional daily prayer hours, or the service held at that time.

tiered

adj

Arranged in a series of levels or layers, one above another.

Tierney

name

An Irish surname derived from the Gaelic "O Tighearnaigh," meaning "descendant of the lord."

ties

noun

Shoes with a low cut that fasten with laces.

tiff

noun

A minor argument or quarrel.

Tiffany

noun

A very fine, sheer silk gauze once used for veils, trimmings, and delicate dresses.

tiffin

noun

A light midday meal, especially as the term is used in South Asia and parts of the former British Empire.

tift

noun

(informal) A brief spell of bad temper or a small quarrel.

tig

noun

A children's chasing game where one player tries to touch another to pass on the role of chaser; also called tag.