כָּתַשׁ (b. h.; v. כָּתַת) 1) to crush (olives), to pound, beat Shebi. IV, 9 כּוֹתֵש וסך וכ׳ he may crush olives and use the oil for ointment in the field. Sabb. 74ᵃ וליחשוב נמי כותש let the Mishnah (Sabb. VII, 2) count (among the forbidden labors) also pounding (grain), v. כְּתִישָׁה. Men. VIII, 4 (86ᵃ), Tanḥ. Ḥuck. 8; Pesik. Par., p. 40ᵃ וכוֹתְשִׁין אותה and pound it (the burnt body). Koh. R. to VII, 2 ולמה כותשין על הלב why do mourners beat their hearts?; a. e.—Part. pass. כָּתוּשׁ, f. כְּתוּשָׁה crushed. Men. 86ᵇ, v. כָּתִית.—Trnsf. defloured. Y. Kidd. I, 59ᵃ top, v. חָרַף.—2) to press, to be closely joined, grouped; שער כּוֹתֵשׁ a thick hair crown, i.e. ramifications forming a sort of arbor. Peah II, 3 אם היה ש׳ כ׳ if the ramifications are intertwined; Y. ib. 17ᵃ top [read:] מה כ׳ כעלי במכתש וכ׳ (v. R. S. to Kil. V, 3) what does this כותש mean? Does it mean, like the pestle in the mortar (i.e. the partition is formed by a depression in the ground between the two fields, out of which the fence rises), or does it mean, pressing upon (overgrowing) the fence? Answ. מן מה דתנינן סער כותש ואין הגדר כותש וכ׳ reading as we do ‘the hair (ramification) presses’, and not ‘the fence presses’, it is evident that it means ‘overgrowing the fence.’
Nif. - נִכְתַּשׁ to be crushed, pounded. Tanḥ. Ki Thabo 3 מה השמן הזה נ׳ וכ׳ as oil is pounded, and the more it is pounded, the better it becomes, v. כְּתִישָׁה. Ter. I, 8 זתים הנִכְתָּשִׁין crushed olives. Tosef. ib. III, 14 עתידין לִיכָּתֵשׁ designated for pounding; a. fr.
Pi. - כִּיתֵּשׁ to crush to powder.—Part. pass. מְכוּתָּשׁ, f. מְכוּתֶּשֶׁת. Tosef. Ohol. II, 5 some ed. (oth. מְכוּתֶּתֶת, ed. Zuck. מכתתת; Y. Naz. VIII, 56ᶜ מְכוּתָּתִין).