thurl
/θɜːl/US/θɝl/
thurl noun: either of the rear hip joints where the hip connects to the upper leg in certain animals, particularly cattle; often used as a reference point for measurement. Also the alternative form of thirl.
Noun
thurl (plural thurls)
- Either of the rear hip joints where the hip connects to the upper leg in certain animals, particularly cattle; often used as a reference point for measurement.
- Deficiencies which are common to the hind quarters of the cow, include shortness and narrowness of rump, a drooping rump, narrowness between the thurls and pin bones and thickly fleshed thighs.1918, G. C. Humphrey, The Rural Efficiency Guide, Volume 4: Stock Book, page 22
- Also I would call attention to the fact that the heifers were wider through the thurls at five months of age than through the hips, but after they had become mature cows they were wider through (or across) their hips, than across their thurls.1921, American Genetic Association, The Journal of Heredity, page 327
Also used as
thurl is also the alternative form of thirl.
Forms of thurl
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | thurls |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | thurls |
| present participle | thurling |
| past participle | thurled |
| past | thurled |
Origin of thurl
See thirl.
Words formed from thurl
Words that rhyme with thurl
Questions about thurl
- What does thurl mean?
- Thurl means either of the rear hip joints where the hip connects to the upper leg in certain animals, particularly cattle; often used as a reference point for measurement.
- What part of speech is thurl?
- Thurl is a noun.
- How do you pronounce thurl?
- Thurl is pronounced /θɝl/ (US).
- What is the plural of thurl?
- The plural of thurl is thurls.
Words near thurl in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: thurl (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-thurl.wav.
Cite this entry: “thurl.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/thurl. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.