threshing-floor
Definition
- Noun:
- A flat area for separating grain: A "threshing-floor" is a specially prepared, hard, flat surface, often outdoors, where harvested grain is beaten or crushed to separate the edible kernels from the straw and chaff.
Usage Examples
- (The designated area for processing harvested grain.)
- (The flat surface used for the separation of grain.)
Advanced Usage
- "to bring to the threshing-floor": to prepare grain for processing or, figuratively, to bring something to a point of decisive action.
- The workers brought all the barley to the threshing-floor before the rain arrived. (They moved the harvested crop to the processing area.)
Variants and Related Words
- Threshing (n): the act of separating grain from stalks and husks.
- Threshing was traditionally done with a flail or by having animals trample the grain. (The process of beating grain to free the kernels.)
- Floor (n): the flat surface of a room or an outdoor area.
- The stone floor of the barn served as a threshing-floor. (The ground-level surface used for the task.)
Synonyms
- Barn floor: a flat area inside a barn used for threshing.
- They swept the barn floor clean before starting the threshing. (A similar surface for grain separation.)
- Grain yard: an outdoor area designated for processing harvested crops.
- The grain yard was busy with workers and animals during harvest season. (An alternative term for a threshing area.)
Related Idioms
- "Separate the wheat from the chaff": to distinguish valuable from worthless, often in reference to the threshing process.
- The teacher’s exam was designed to separate the wheat from the chaff among the students. (To identify the best performers, drawing from the threshing-floor metaphor.)
Cultural Note
- The threshing-floor holds symbolic significance in many ancient agricultural societies, often appearing in religious and literary texts as a place of judgment, provision, or transformation (e.g., the biblical story of Ruth and Boaz).