dretch

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛtʃ

Etymology 1

From Middle English dretchen, drecchen, drechen, from Old English dreċċan (“to vex, irritate, trouble, torment, torture, oppress, afflict”), from Proto-West Germanic *drakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *drakjaną (“to torment”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrag-, *dʰragʰ- (“to bother, torment”). Cognate with Russian раздража́ть (razdražátʹ, “to irritate”), Sanskrit द्राघते (drāghate, “to exert oneself, be tired, torment”).

Verb

dretch (third-person singular simple present dretches, present participle dretching, simple past and past participle dretched)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To vex; grill; trouble; oppress.

Etymology 2

From Middle English dretchen, drecchen, drechen, from Old English *dreċċan (“to draw out, delay, linger”), from Proto-West Germanic *drakkjan, from Proto-Germanic *drakjaną (“to draw, pull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreǵ- (“to pull, drag, scratch”). Cognate with Scots dratch, dretch (“to dawdle”), Dutch trekken (“to draw, pull, tear, pluck, trek”), German trecken (“to draw, trek”), Danish trække (“to draw, pull”), Norwegian dråk (“stripe”), Swedish dialectal drakig (“striped, streaked”), Icelandic rák (“streak”).

Alternative forms

• draitch, drich (Scotland)

Verb

dretch (third-person singular simple present dretches, present participle dretching, simple past and past participle dretched)

1. (obsolete, intransitive) To delay; linger; tarry.
2. (intransitive, UK dialectal, Scotland) To move slowly and heavily; dawdle; loiter.

Noun

dretch (plural dretches)

1. An idle wench; a slattern.
2. (UK dialectal, Scotland) A person slow in the execution of a job; a dawdler.