thou

Verb

thou (third-person singular simple present thous, present participle thouing, simple past and past participle thoued)

1. (transitive) To address (a person) using the pronoun thou, especially as an expression of contempt or familiarity.
   • Don’t thou them as thous thee! – a Yorkshire English admonition to overly familiar children
   • Avaunt, caitiff, dost thou thou me! / I am come of good kin, I tell thee! / My mother was a lady of the stews' blood born, / And (knight of the halter) my father ware an horn; / Therefore I take it in full great scorn, / That thou shouldest thus check me.c. 1530, “Hickscorner”, in W[illiam] Carew Hazlitt, editor, A Select Collection of Old English Plays. Originally Published by Robert Dodsley in the Year 1744. […], 4th edition, volume I, London...

   Synonyms:

   thee

   Antonyms:

   you

2. (intransitive) To use the word thou.
   • The hardcore role-players will wake up one day feeling, like a dead weight on their chest, the strain of endless texting in Renaissance Faire English—yet dutifully go on theeing and thouing all the same.2006, Julian Dibbell, chapter 5, in Play Money: Or, How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot, New York, N.Y.: Basic Books, →ISBN
   • You want to hear the word of God, and be challenged to go out and change the world. Instead, you are, for the fifth Sunday in a row, mewling on about purple-headed mountains (which is a bit of an imaginative stretch, since you live in East Anglia) and "theeing" and "thouing" all over the place.2009, David R. Keeston [pseudonym; Alan D. Jenkins], “Seeing God in the Ordinary”, in The Hitch Hikers’ Guide to the Gospel, [Morrisville, N.C.]: Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 39

   Synonyms:

   thee

   Antonyms:

   you

Noun (1)

UK/θaʊ/

thou (plural thous)

1. A unit of length equal to one thousandth of an inch (25.4 µm).
   • We just wanted to take off a few thou, which we easily did with fine sandpaper.
   • But to continue, "At Horwich they had gone all scientific, and talked in 'thous.,' though apparently some of their work was to the nearest half-inch. […]."1946 November and December, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 344

   Synonyms:

   mil, mill

Noun (2)

UK/θaʊ/

thou (plural thous or thou)

1. (slang) A thousand, especially a thousand of some currency (dollars, pounds sterling, etc.).
   • Whoa there, big spender — that'll cost you a few thou. Are you sure you can afford it?
   • Butch [Cassidy] gave him 3 thous in cash 1 thous for the lawyer another thous if the lawyer wins & 1 thous for Tom O'Day.1977, Larry Pointer, “Belle Fourche”, in In Search of Butch Cassidy (Red River Books), Norman, Okla.: University of Oklahoma Press, published 1988, →ISBN, page 132

   Synonyms:

   grand, G, large, K

Pronoun capitalized: Thou

Thou

1. (honorific) Honorific alternative letter-case form of thou, sometimes used when referring to God or another important figure who is understood from context.