Wiktionary

thrive

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English thryven, thriven, from Old Norse þrífa (“to seize, grasp, take hold, prosper”), from Proto-Germanic *þrībaną (“to seize, prosper”), from Proto-Indo-European *trep-, *terp- (“to satisfy, enjoy”). Cognate with Swedish trivas, Danish trives, Norwegian Bokmål trives.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /θɹaɪv/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -aɪv

Verb

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thrive (third-person singular simple present thrives, present participle thriving, simple past throve or thrived, past participle thriven or thrived)

  1. (intransitive) To grow or increase stature; to grow vigorously or luxuriantly, to flourish.
    Not all animals thrive well in captivity.
    to thrive upon hard work
    • 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC:
      “It seems to me, reverend father,” said the knight, “that the small morsels which you eat, together with this holy, but somewhat thin beverage, have thriven with you marvellously.”
    • 1855, Robert Browning, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, section X:
      So, on I went. I think I never saw / Such starved ignoble nature; nothing throve: / For flowers - as well expect a cedar grove!
    • 1937, J. R. R. Tolkien, chapter 4, in The Hobbit:
      Dwarves had not passed that way for many years, but Gandalf had, and he knew how evil and danger had grown and thriven in the Wild, since the dragons had driven men from the lands, and the goblins had spread in secret after the battle of the Mines of Moria.
    • 1941, Emily Carr, chapter 3, in Klee Wyck‎[1]:
      The growing things jumbled themselves together into a dense thicket; so tensely earnest were things about growing in Skedans that everything linked with everything else, hurrying to grow to the limit of its own capacity; weeds and weaklings alike throve in the rich moistness.
    • 2009 February 15, John Markoff, “Do We Need a New Internet?”, in The New York Times‎[2]:
      Despite a thriving global computer security industry that is projected to reach $79 billion in revenues next year, and the fact that in 2002 Microsoft itself began an intense corporatewide effort to improve the security of its software, Internet security has continued to deteriorate globally.
  2. (intransitive) To increase in wealth or success; to prosper, be profitable.
    Since expanding in June, the business has really thrived.
    • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vii]:
      […] Deliver me the key.
      Here do I choose, and thrive I as I may!
    • 2009, Sara E. Lewis, James City County, page 77:
      On the Chickahominy, the Hazelwood brothers' fish house at Hicks Island and the Menzel brothers' fish house near the old shipyard thrived by serving local and distant markets. As late as 1977, a Publick Observer article boasted, "If you are served turtle soup in Atlanta or catfish in Ft. Wayne, Ind., chances are good that the main ingredients came from the waters of the James or the Chickahominy."
    • 2012 April 29, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Treehouse of Horror III” (season 4, episode 5; originally aired 10/29/1992)”, in The A.V. Club‎[3]:
      Though they obviously realized that these episodes were part of something wonderful and important and lasting, the writers and producers couldn’t have imagined that 20 years later “Treehouse Of Horror” wouldn’t just survive; it’d thrive as one of the most talked-about and watched episodes of every season of The Simpsons.
    • 2018, Natasha Devon, A Beginner's Guide to Being Mental: An A-Z, →ISBN:
      And, reader, the further you take this analogy the more beautifully it works: my anxiety disorder thrives on irrational scaremongery and paranoia, it often demands booze (but should not be given alcohol because it only makes it worse) and just when you think you have got rid of it for good, it pops up again.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Anagrams

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Yola

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Etymology

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From Middle English turf, torf, from Old English turf, from Proto-West Germanic *turb.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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thrive (plural dhrivès)

  1. A sod of turf or peat.

References

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  • Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 72
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