thatch
/θatʃ
/noun [mass noun]
1A roof covering of straw, reeds, palm leaves, or a similar material: the rain drummed noisily on the thatch above her head...
- The downpour continued all night, but nary a drop violated my palm thatch.
- The straw thatch was not two feet above her face.
- High on the roof of the store, weaving a string of Norfolk reeds into the thatch, Billy Betsford looked down at the old man.
1.1Straw or a similar material used for covering a roof: good thatch is difficult to obtain...
- Roofing materials were thatch, turf, timber, tiles, slates, and lead.
- These buildings could be substantial, consisting normally of a low wall of stone with a roof of thatch, skins, or other organic material supported by timbers.
- Traditional building materials of mud (for walls) and thatch (for roofs) are being replaced by cement and tiles.
1.2 [in singular] informal A person’s hair, especially when thick or unruly: a young man with a thatch of untidy blond hair...
- The stocky Dundonian has grown a thatch of snowy white hair and a matching beard for his role as a crazy psychiatrist in the film version of the international bestseller Running With Scissors.
- He had brown eyes and a thatch of thick, shaggy brown hair.
- He is a somewhat shambling but attractive denim-clad man in his late 50s, with a thatch of pewter-coloured hair, an engaging smile and a permanently amused gaze.
1.3A matted layer of dead stalks, moss, and other material in a lawn: scarify the lawn to remove debris and thatch...
- All grass forms a layer of dead plant material, known as thatch, between the grass blades and the soil.
- If conditions are dry enough, lawns will benefit from a good raking to remove debris, thatch and moss.
- It's a good time to scarify lawns and remove the dead grass called thatch.
verb [with object]
Cover (a roof or a building) with straw or a similar material: (as adjective thatched) thatched cottages...
- The roofs were thatched, turfed or covered in wood shingles, depending on available local resources.
- The grain was used for feeding the livestock and the straw for thatching the roof.
- The homes at the turn of the century were all built from fieldstones and had thatched roofs.
Derivatives
thatcher
/ noun ...- Across Yorkshire as a whole, 155 additional construction workers are needed with the necessary skills to maintain historic buildings - 48 carpenters, 45 slate and tile roofers, 36 stonemasons and 26 thatchers.
- Demonstrations by rural craftsmen will feature the work of the thatcher, stone mason, wheelwright, blacksmith, bodger, cooper, cane and rush weaver and stick maker.
- He was a thatcher and thatched roofs in the white suburbs of Johannesburg.
Origin
Old English theccan 'cover', of Germanic origin; related to Dutch dekken and German decken.