I. ˈthach verb
( -ed/-ing/-es )
Etymology: Middle English thecchen, thacchen, from Old English theccan to cover, conceal; akin to Old English thæc roof, Old High German dah roof, decchen, decken to cover, Old Norse thak roof, thatch, thekja to cover, Latin tegere to cover, tegula tile, Greek stegein to cover, shelter, stegos, egos roof, Sanskrit sthagati he covers
transitive verb
: to roof or cover with or as if with thatch : make of thatch
intransitive verb
: to cover something with thatch : make something (as a roof) of thatch
II. noun
( -es )
Etymology: Middle English thacche, from thecchen, thacchen to thatch
1.
a. : a plant material (as rushes, reeds, palm leaves, or especially straw) arranged in a thick mat with the individual parts parallel and sloping so as to shed water and used as a sheltering cover especially of a house
a house with a roof of thatch — Fiske Kimball
we all went about in thatched-straw raincoats and peaked thatch hats — Nora Waln
b. : a sheltering cover (as a house roof) made of such material
2. : something resembling the thatch of a house
the cool spring that flowed out from under a bank into a thatch of dark watercress — Willa Cather
especially : the hair of one's head
a man with a cap on his white thatch — Eudora Welty
3. : thatch palm
III. noun
: a mat of undecomposed plant material (as grass clippings) accumulated next to the soil in a grassy area (as a lawn)