1. The separation of grain or seeds from the husks and straw
   "they used to do the threshing by hand but now there are machines to do it"

1. (farming) beat the seeds out of a grain
   "Farmers used to thresh grain by hand";
   - thrash
    
2. Beat hard and repeatedly, esp. with a whip, cane, etc.
   "They threshed the wheat to separate the grain";
   - thrash, lam [informal], flail
    
3. Move or stir about violently
   "The feverish patient threshed around in his bed"; "The fish threshed about in the net";
   - convulse, thresh about, thrash, thrash about, slash, toss, jactitate [rare]
    
4. Swing or move in a random unstable way
   "Her arms were threshing";
   - flail

Derived forms: threshings

Type of: agitate, beat, beat up, flap, separation, shake, work over [informal]

Encyclopedia: Threshing