thread and thrum
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Everything, good and bad together. Come, sisters, come, cut thread and thrum; Quail, crush, conclude, and quell!
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “thread and thrum” mean?
Everything, good and bad together. Come, sisters, come, cut thread and thrum; Quail, crush, conclude, and quell!
Is “thread and thrum” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.