Definition: thrasher

Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

thrasher
     n 1: a farm machine for separating seeds or grain from the husks
          and straw [syn: thresher, threshing machine]
     2: thrush-like American songbird able to mimic other birdsongs
        [syn: mocking thrush]
     3: large pelagic shark of warm seas with a whiplike tail used
        to round up small fish on which to feed [syn: thresher,
        thresher shark, fox shark, Alopius vulpinus]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Shark \Shark\, n. [Of uncertain origin; perhaps through OF. fr.
   carcharus a kind of dogfish, Gr. karchari`as, so called from
   its sharp teeth, fr. ka`rcharos having sharp or jagged teeth;
   or perhaps named from its rapacity (cf. Shark, v. t. & i.);
   cf. Corn. scarceas.]
   1. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of elasmobranch
      fishes of the order Plagiostomi, found in all seas.

   Note: Some sharks, as the basking shark and the whale shark,
         grow to an enormous size, the former becoming forty
         feet or more, and the latter sixty feet or more, in
         length. Most of them are harmless to man, but some are
         exceedingly voracious. The man-eating sharks mostly
         belong to the genera Carcharhinus, Carcharodon, and
         related genera. They have several rows of large sharp
         teeth with serrated edges, as the great white shark
         (Carcharodon carcharias, or Rondeleti) of tropical
         seas, and the great blue shark (Carcharhinus glaucus)
         of all tropical and temperate seas. The former
         sometimes becomes thirty-six feet long, and is the most
         voracious and dangerous species known. The rare
         man-eating shark of the United States coast
         (Charcarodon Atwoodi) is thought by some to be a
         variety, or the young, of C. carcharias. The dusky
         shark (Carcharhinus obscurus), and the smaller blue
         shark (C. caudatus), both common species on the coast
         of the United States, are of moderate size and not
         dangerous. They feed on shellfish and bottom fishes.

   2. A rapacious, artful person; a sharper. [Colloq.]

   3. Trickery; fraud; petty rapine; as, to live upon the shark.
      [Obs.] --South.

   Baskin shark, Liver shark, Nurse shark, Oil shark,
   Sand shark, Tiger shark, etc. See under Basking,
      Liver, etc. See also Dogfish, Houndfish,
      Notidanian, and Tope.

   Gray shark, the sand shark.

   Hammer-headed shark. See Hammerhead.

   Port Jackson shark. See Cestraciont.

   Shark barrow, the eggcase of a shark; a sea purse.

   Shark ray. Same as Angel fish
      (a), under Angel.

   Thrasher shark, or Thresher shark, a large, voracious
      shark. See Thrasher.

   Whale shark, a huge harmless shark (Rhinodon typicus) of
      the Indian Ocean. It becomes sixty feet or more in length,
      but has very small teeth.

Song \Song\ (?; 115), n. [AS. song, sang, fr. singan to sing;
   akin to D. zang, G. sang, Icel. s["o]ngr, Goeth. sagws. See
   Sing.]
   1. That which is sung or uttered with musical modulations of
      the voice, whether of a human being or of a bird, insect,
      etc. ``That most ethereal of all sounds, the song of
      crickets.'' --Hawthorne.

   2. A lyrical poem adapted to vocal music; a ballad.

   3. More generally, any poetical strain; a poem.

            The bard that first adorned our native tongue Tuned
            to his British lyre this ancient song. --Dryden.

   4. Poetical composition; poetry; verse.

            This subject for heroic song.         --Milton.

   5. An object of derision; a laughingstock.

            And now am I their song. yea, I am their byword.
                                                  --Job xxx. 9.

   6. A trifle. ``The soldier's pay is a song.'' --Silliman.

   Old song, a trifle; nothing of value. ``I do not intend to
      be thus put off with an old song.'' --Dr. H. More.

   Song bird (Zo["o]l.), any singing bird; one of the Oscines.
      

   Song sparrow (Zo["o]l.), a very common North American
      sparrow (Melospiza fasciata, or M. melodia) noted for
      the sweetness of its song in early spring. Its breast is
      covered with dusky brown streaks which form a blotch in
      the center.

   Song thrush (Zo["o]l.), a common European thrush (Turdus
      musicus), noted for its melodius song; -- called also
      mavis, throsite, and thrasher.

   Syn: Sonnet; ballad; canticle; carol; canzonet; ditty; hymn;
        descant; lay; strain; poesy; verse.

Thrasher \Thrash"er\, Thresher \Thresh"er\, n.
   1. One who, or that which, thrashes grain; a thrashing
      machine.

   2. (Zo["o]l.) A large and voracious shark (Alopias vulpes),
      remarkable for the great length of the upper lobe of its
      tail, with which it beats, or thrashes, its prey. It is
      found both upon the American and the European coasts.
      Called also fox shark, sea ape, sea fox, slasher,
      swingle-tail, and thrasher shark.

   3. (Zo["o]l.) A name given to the brown thrush and other
      allied species. See Brown thrush.

   Sage thrasher. (Zo["o]l.) See under Sage.

   Thrasher whale (Zo["o]l.), the common killer of the
      Atlantic.