thresh

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To beat the stems and husks of (grain or cereal plants) with a machine or flail to separate the grains or seeds from the straw.
2. v. To separate (grains or seeds) in this manner.
3. v. To discuss or examine (an issue, for example) repeatedly.
4. v. To beat severely; thrash.
5. v. To use a machine or flail to separate grain or seeds from straw.
6. v. To thrash about; toss.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. In wire-drawing, to raise (a wire rod or bar of small section) high in the air and throw it heavily against a flat smooth plate on the ground in order to straighten it or to loosen the scale and dirt.
2. To beat out or separate the grain or seeds from, by means of a flail or a threshing-machine, or by treading with oxen: in this sense commonly thresh.
3. To beat soundly, as with a stick or whip; drub; hence, to beat in any way: in this sense commonly thrash.
4. To practise threshing; beat out grain from straw with a flail or a threshing-machine: in this sense commonly thresh.
5. To beat about; labor; drudge; toil.
6. To throw one's self about; toss to and fro: usually with about: in this sense commonly thrash.
7. n. See thrash.

Wiktionary

1. v. To separate the grain from the straw or husks by mechanical beating, with a flail or machinery.
2. v. To beat soundly, usually with some tool such as a stick or whip; to drub.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. Same as thrash.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. give a thrashing to; beat hard
2. v. move like a flail; thresh about
3. v. beat the seeds out of a grain
4. v. move or stir about violently