• Throw

    Pronunciation

    • UK enPR: thrō, IPA: /θɹəʊ/
    • US enPR: thrō, IPA: /θɹoÊŠ/
    • Rhymes: -əʊ
    • Homophones: throe

    Origin 1

    From Middle English throwen, thrawen, from Old English þrāwan ("to turn, twist, curl, rack, torture, turn around"), from Proto-Germanic *þrēaną ("to turn"), from Proto-Indo-European *ter- ("to rub, rub by twisting, twist, turn"). Cognate with Scots thraw ("to twist, turn, throw"), Dutch draaien ("to turn"), Low German draien, dreien ("to turn (in a lathe)"), German drehen ("to turn"), Danish dreje ("to turn"), Swedish dreja ("to turn"), Albanian dredh ("to turn, twist, tremble").

    Full definition of throw

    Verb

    1. (transitive) To hurl; to cause an object to move rapidly through the air.
      throw a shoe;   throw a javelin;   the horse threw its rider
      • 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 5, When this conversation was repeated in detail within the hearing of the young woman in question, and undoubtedly for his benefit, Mr. Trevor threw shame to the winds and scandalized the Misses Brewster then and there by proclaiming his father to have been a country storekeeper.
    2. (transitive) To eject or cause to fall off.
      • ShakespeareThere the snake throws her enamelled skin.
    3. (transitive) To move to another position or condition; to displace.
      throw the switch
      • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 17, This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.
    4. (ceramics) To make (a pot) by shaping clay as it turns on a wheel.
    5. (transitive, cricket) Of a bowler, to deliver (the ball) illegally by straightening the bowling arm during delivery.
    6. (transitive, computing) To send (an error) to an exception-handling mechanism in order to interrupt normal processing.
      If the file is read-only, the method throws an invalid operation exception.
    7. (sports) To intentionally lose a game.
      The tennis player was accused of taking bribes to throw the match.
      • 2012, August 1. Peter Walker and Haroon Siddique in Guardian Unlimited, Eight Olympic badminton players disqualified for 'throwing games'Four pairs of women's doubles badminton players, including the Chinese top seeds, have been ejected from the Olympic tournament for trying to throw matches in an effort to secure a more favourable quarter-final draw.
    8. (transitive, informal) To confuse or mislead.
      The deliberate red herring threw me at first.
      • 1999, Jan Blackstone-Ford, The Custody Solutions Sourcebook - Page 196"Jann, why does he hate me so much?" That question threw me. I was expecting a lunatic yelling profanities.
    9. (figuratively) To send desperately.
      Their sergeant threw the troops into pitched battle.
      • 2010, December 28, Marc Vesty, Stoke 0-2 Fulham, Stoke threw men forward in numbers as they attempted to find a way back into the game, and Mark Schwarzer was forced into a low save from Huth's close-range effort.
    10. (transitive) To imprison.
      The magistrate ordered the suspect to be thrown into jail.
      • 1818, Mary Shelley, FrankensteinThe plot of Felix was quickly discovered, and De Lacey and Agatha were thrown into prison.
      • 1993, Margaret McKee, Fred Chisenhall, Beale black & blue: life and music on black America's main street - Page 30The standard method of dealing with an addict was to arrest him, throw him into a cell, and leave him until the agonizing pangs of withdrawal were over.
    11. To organize an event, especially a party.
    12. To roll (a die or dice).
      • 1844, Samuel Laing translating Snorri Sturluson, HeimskringlaThe kings came to the agreement between themselves that they would cast lots by the dice to determine who should have this property, and that he who threw the highest should have the district. The Swedish king threw two sixes, and said King Olaf need scarcely throw.
    13. (transitive) To cause a certain number on the die or dice to be shown after rolling it.
      • 1844, Samuel Laing translating Snorri Sturluson, HeimskringlaThe kings came to the agreement between themselves that they would cast lots by the dice to determine who should have this property, and that he who threw the highest should have the district. The Swedish king threw two sixes, and said King Olaf need scarcely throw.
    14. (transitive, bridge) To discard.
      • 1990, January 4, Sharp coup overcomes trump split, Declarer threw his queen of spades on the high diamond. He then won the last three tricks with his ace, queen and nine of hearts behind East's jack third.
    15. (martial arts) To lift the opponent off the ground and bring him back down, especially into a position behind the thrower.
    16. (transitive) To subject someone to verbally.
      • 2007, June 11, Claude Salhani, Analysis: Irony of Bush's European tour, In other European cities the president visited this week, people waited for his motorcade to pass to throw insults at him, requiring the police to intervene with batons, water cannons and tear gas.
    17. (transitive, said of animals) To give birth to.
      • 1916, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association: Volume 49At the end of the normal gestation period the cow threw two calf mummies as large as cats.
    18. (transitive, said of one's voice) To change in order to give the illusion that the voice is that of someone else.
    19. (transitive) To show sudden emotion, especially anger.
      • 1991, Janet L. Davies, Ellen Hastings Janosik, Mental health and psychiatric nursing: a caring approachBill runs into the kitchen and tells Dad that Erik is throwing a tantrum. He tells Bill to go back and watch his program and to ignore his brother. Fifteen minutes later, Erik is still screaming...
      • 1996, New York Magazine Vol. 29, No. 32 - 19 Aug 1996; Entertaining Mrs StoneIn 1975, pregnant with the second of her three children, she threw a hissy fit to get on a trip to Boston for elected officials.
    20. (transitive) To project or send forth.
    21. To put on hastily; to spread carelessly.
      • Alexander PopeO'er his fair limbs a flowery vest he threw.
    22. To twist two or more filaments of (silk, etc.) so as to form one thread; to twist together, as singles, in a direction contrary to the twist of the singles themselves; sometimes applied to the whole class of operations by which silk is prepared for the weaver.

    Synonyms

    Derived terms

    Terms derived from throw, throw-away

    Noun

    throw

    (plural throws)
    1. The flight of a thrown object; as, a fast throw.
    2. The act of throwing something.
    3. A distance travelled; displacement; as, the throw of the piston.
    4. A piece of fabric used to cover a bed, sofa or other soft furnishing.
    5. A single instance, occurrence, venture, or chance.Football tickets are expensive at fifty bucks a throw.

    Derived terms

    Origin 2

    Middle English throwe, alteration of thrawe from Old English þrāwu ("labor pang, agony in childbirth or death"), akin to Old English þrēa ("affliction, pang"), þrōwan ("to suffer"). More at throe

    Noun

    throw

    (plural throws)
    1. Pain, especially pain associated with childbirth; throe.
    2. (veterinary) The act of giving birth in animals, especially in cows.

    Origin 3

    From Middle English, from Old English þrāh, þrāg ("space of time, period, while"). Of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Gothic 𐌸𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (þragjan, "to run").

    Noun

    throw

    (plural throws)
    1. (obsolete) A moment, time, occasion.
    2. (obsolete) A period of time; a while.
      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.iv:Downe himselfe he layd
        Vpon the grassie ground, to sleepe a throw;
        The cold earth was his couch, the hard steele his pillow.

    Synonyms

    Anagrams

    © Wiktionary
    • © 2013 - 2023 All Rights Reserved