Meaning & use
threshing floor
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Meanings
nouncountable
A hard, flat area where harvested grain was beaten or trampled to separate the seeds from the stalks and husks.
Grammar: Countable: a threshing floor, two threshing floors.
Patterns
- a threshing floor for grain
- on the threshing floor
The farmers carried the sheaves to the threshing floor at the edge of the village.
Oxen walked in circles over the threshing floor to break the husks.
A stone threshing floor still survives beside the ruined barn.
nouncountablereligion
In the Bible and old stories, a place used for gatherings or decisions, since the open threshing floor was a public site.
Grammar: Appears mainly in historical and religious contexts.
Patterns
- the threshing floor of someone
In the story, Ruth lies down at the threshing floor to wait for Boaz.
The prophet bought a threshing floor as the site for an altar.
The sermon described the threshing floor as a place of judgment and harvest.
Word forms
| plural | threshing floors |
|---|
Common combinations
- stone threshing floor
- The guide pointed out a stone threshing floor on the hillside.
- winnow on the threshing floor
- Farmers would winnow the grain on the threshing floor in the evening breeze.
- ancient threshing floor
- Archaeologists uncovered an ancient threshing floor near the temple.
- gather at the threshing floor
- The villagers gathered at the threshing floor after the harvest.
Synonyms and how they differ
- threshing yard
- A threshing yard is the same idea and is used in older writing, while threshing floor often means a paved or packed surface.
- barn floor
- A barn floor is an indoor surface in a barn, whereas a threshing floor is often outdoors.
- granary
- A granary stores grain, but a threshing floor is where the grain is separated from its husks.
Word family
Commonly confused: threshing floor or threshold?
threshing floor vs threshold
A threshold is the strip at the bottom of a doorway, so it differs from a threshing floor in meaning, though the words look alike.
Practice
What was done on a threshing floor?
Choose one answer.
A threshing floor was where harvested grain was beaten or trampled to free the seeds. The other jobs happened in different places.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “threshing floor”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.