three-farthings. King John, i. 143. Alluding to the very thin three-farthing (silver) pieces of Qu. Elizabeth, which bore her profile, with a rose at the back of her head.
three-pile, three-piled velvet. The richest kind of velvet was called three-pile or three-piled velvet, presumably because it had a triple (or a very close) pile or nap; Wint. Tale, iv. 3. 14. Three-piled piece, referring to velvet, i. 2. 33. Metaphorically, three-piled = exaggerated, L. L. L. v. 2. 407; cp. C. Tourneur, Revenger’s Tragedy, i. 1. From three and pile (4).
threne, a lament. Phoenix and Turtle, 49. Hence, threning (spelt threnning); ‘What needs these threnning words and wasted wind?’, Sir T. Wyatt, To his Love (Wks., ed. Bell, 198). Gk. θρῆνος, a funeral lament.
thrill, to pierce. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 2. 32. Hence, thrillant, piercing. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 4. 46. ME. thirte, to pierce (Chaucer, C. T. A. 2709). OE. þyrlian. See [thrull].
thrill, to hurl a weapon. Webster, Appius, iv. 2 (Virginius); Heywood, Iron Age, Part I, 1632, sig. F (Dyce); Quarles, Sion’s Elegies, ii. 4.
thring, to press forward. Mirror for Mag., Caracalla, st. 1. Still in use in the north country (EDD.). ME. thringe, to press, to force one’s way (Chaucer). OE. þringan, to press.
thrist, thirst. Spenser, F. Q. ii. 6. 17. Thristy, thirsty, id., i. 5. 15. In prov. use in the north country, also in Heref. and Shropshire (EDD.). ME. thrist, thirst; thriste, to thirst (Wars Alex. 4683, 3848).
throat-brisk, (?) part of the brisket near the throat; spelt throte-briske, Chapman, tr. of Odyssey, iii. 620. Cp. throat-sweetbread (also neck-sweetbread), butcher’s name for the thymus gland, see NED. (s.v. Throat, 8 d).
throng, pressed closely together; ‘Hidden in straw throng’ (i.e. in straw pressed closely together), B. Jonson, Tale of a Tub, v. 5 (The fourth Motion). OE. þrungen, pp. of þringan, to press. See [thring].
throw, a short space, a little while. Spenser, F. Q. iii. 5. 53. ME. throw, a little while (Prompt. EETS., see note, no. 2336). OE. þrāge, ‘for a time’, þrāh, a space of time, a course, running. See M. and S. (s.v. Throwe).