thrave

T1H4R1A1V4E1

verb

To urge; compel; importune.

“c. 16th century, Lansdowne manuscript The worst of a thrave.”

OriginMiddle English thraven ← Old English þrafian ← Proto-West Germanic *þrabōn →
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Meanings

thrave1

verbthrave (third-person singular simple present thraves, present participle thraving, simple past and past participle thraved)

present singular third person thraves · participle present thraving · participle past thraved · past thraved

  1. UKdialectaltransitiveTo urge; compel; importune.

thrave2

nounthrave (plural thraves)

plural thraves · alternative threave · alternative threve

  1. UKdialectalA sheaf; a handful (of crops).
  2. UKdialectalobsoleteA specified number (twenty-six, twenty-four, twelve, etc., depending on the place) of sheaves of a crop (wheat, oats, corn etc.); compare shock and stook, also a certain number of sheaves.

    A daimen icker in a thrave / 'S a sma' request;

    1785, Robert Burns, To a Mouse
  3. UKdialectalobsoleteTwo dozen, or similar indefinite number; a bunch; a throng.

    c. 16th century, Lansdowne manuscript The worst of a thrave.

    1 more example

    He sends forth thraves of ballads to the sale.

    1597, [Joseph Hall], “(please specify the page)”, in Virgidemiarum, Sixe Bookes. First Three Bookes, of Tooth-lesse Satyrs. […], London: […] Thomas Creede, for Robert Dexter, →OCLC

Origin

thrave · verb

  1. Proto-Indo-European*trep-“to scamper; trample; quake; tread”
  2. Proto-Germanic*þrabōną“to press; drive”
  3. Proto-West Germanic*þrabōn
  4. Old Englishþrafian“to press; urge; compel; rebuke; argue; contend”
  5. Middle Englishthraven
  6. Englishthrave

From Middle English thraven, from Old English þrafian (“to press; urge; compel; rebuke; argue; contend”), from Proto-West Germanic *þrabōn, from Proto-Germanic *þrabōną (“to press; drive”), from Proto-Indo-European *trep- (“to scamper; trample; quake; tread”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian troawje, droawje (“to trot”), West Frisian drave (“to trot”), Dutch draven (“to lope; trot”), German traben (“to trot”), Swedish trava (“to trot”), Icelandic þrefa (“to wrangle; dispute”).

More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

thrave · noun

  1. Old Norseþrefi“a bunch or handful of sheaves”
  2. Middle Englishthrave
  3. Englishthrave

From Middle English thrave, threve, thrafe, from Old Norse þrefi (“a bunch or handful of sheaves”), related to Old Norse þrifa (“to grasp”). Cognate with Swedish trave, Danish trave.

More words from Middle English, Old Norse

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with thrave

savedavewaveslavecavegraveWAVbravefavebehaveraveshavewaivepavecravenavestavesuaveclaveengraveMaeveenslaveknavelave
All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

thrave. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thrave

MLA

“thrave.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thrave. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “thrave,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thrave.

Source: thrave on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.