Definition of "throw"

throw¹

/θɹəʊ/

verb
third-person singular simple present throws, present participle throwing, simple past threw or (nonstandard) throwed, past participle thrown or (nonstandard) throwed or (nonstandard) threw
1. (transitive) To hurl; to release (an object) with some force from one's hands, an apparatus, etc. so that it moves rapidly through the air.
  Quotations
  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.
  1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd.
2. (transitive) To eject or cause to fall off.
  Quotations
  There the snake throws her enamelled skin.
  c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene i]
3. (transitive) To move to another position or condition; to displace.
  Quotations
  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.
  1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company
4. (transitive, ceramics) To make (a pot) by shaping clay as it turns on a wheel.
  Quotations
  Through practice, you'll learn how to add the right amount of water as you throw a pot, and your fingers will feel when the pot has reached the proper thickness.
  2009 January 19, Linda Franz, Basic Pottery Making: All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started, Stackpole Books
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.
7. (sports, video games) To intentionally lose a game.
  Quotations
  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.
  2012 August 1, Peter Walker, Haroon Siddique, Eight Olympic badminton players disqualified for 'throwing games'‎, Guardian Unlimited
8. (sports, transitive) (of a game where one's role is throwing something) to perform in a specified way in (a match).
9. (transitive, informal) To confuse or mislead.
  Quotations
  "Jann, why does he hate me so much?" That question threw me. I was expecting a lunatic yelling profanities.
  1999, Jan Blackstone-Ford, The Custody Solutions Sourcebook, page 196
10. (transitive, figuratively) To send desperately.
  Quotations
  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.
  2010 December 28, Marc Vesty, “Stoke 0-2 Fulham”, in BBC
11. (transitive) To imprison.
  Quotations
  The plot of Felix was quickly discovered, and De Lacey and Agatha were thrown into prison.
  1818, [Mary Shelley], Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones
  The 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.
  1993, Margaret McKee, Fred Chisenhall, Beale black & blue: life and music on black America's main street, page 30
12. (transitive) To organize an event, especially a party.
  Quotations
  And now, Clevelanders hoping to bring the Rock Roll Hall of Fame to their city are throwing a bash to commemorate the 34th birthday of disc Jockey Alan Freed's "Moondog Coronation Ball".
  1986 March 1, “Bash Planned”, in Evening News
  Should you be interested, for whatever reason, it will tell you how to throw a party for your 40-year-old husband or your 100-year-old great-grandmother. It also describes games that can be played at various kinds of parties […]
  1979 July, Working Mother, page 72
13. (transitive, intransitive) To roll (a die or dice).
  Quotations
  The 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.
  1844, Snorri Sturluson, translated by Samuel Laing, Heimskringla
14. (transitive) To cause a certain number on the die or dice to be shown after rolling it.
  Quotations
  The 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.
  1844, Snorri Sturluson, translated by Samuel Laing, Heimskringla
15. (transitive, bridge) To discard.
  Quotations
  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.
  1990 January 4, “Sharp coup overcomes trump split”, in The Washington Times
16. (martial arts) To lift the opponent off the ground and bring him back down, especially into a position behind the thrower.
17. (transitive, said of one's voice) To change in order to give the illusion that the voice is that of someone else.
  Quotations
  “Then, when I throw my voice, when I speak as someone who's quite different from me, it starts to feel very authentic.”
  2005 April 13, Leon Neyfakh, “BOOKENDS: Will the Real Jonathan Safran Foer Please Stand Up”, in Harvard Crimson
18. (transitive) To show sudden emotion, especially anger.
  Quotations
  Bill 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 […]
  1991, Janet L. Davies, Ellen Hastings Janosik, Mental health and psychiatric nursing: a caring approach
  In 1975, pregnant with the second of her three children, she threw a hissy fit to get on a trip to Boston for elected officials.
  1996 August 19, “Entertaining Mrs Stone”, in New York Magazine, volume 29, number 32
19. (transitive) To project or send forth.
  Quotations
  Warwick left the undertaker's shop and retraced his steps until he had passed the lawyer's office, toward which he threw an affectionate glance.
  1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, chapter I, in The House Behind the Cedars
  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.
  2007 June 11, Claude Salhani, “Analysis: Irony of Bush's European tour”, in UPI
20. To put on hastily; to spread carelessly.
  Quotations
  O'er his fair limbs a flowery vest he threw.
  1726, Alexander, transl. Pope, “Book III”, in The Odyssey, translation of original by Homer, line 596; republished in The Complete Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1902, page 543
21. 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.
  Quotations
  A person named Crocket endeavoured to throw silk at Derby in the year 1702 ; but his machinery was imperfect
  1829, Stephen Glover, Thomas Noble, The History of the County of Derby
22. (baseball, slang, of a team, a manager, etc.) To select (a pitcher); to assign a pitcher to a given role (such as starter or reliever).
  Quotations
  I have a minor quibble with Gleason's decision to throw Lefty Williams in Game Eight with the Series in the balance.
  2009, Michael T. Lynch, Jr., It Ain't So: A Might-Have-Been History of the White Sox in 1919 and Beyond, page 63
23. (transitive) To install (a bridge).
  Quotations
  […] across the rapid smaragdus-green waters, pouring onward into the country, are thrown three bridges ...
  1860, Fredrika Bremer (trans. Mary Howitt), Life in the Old World, v. 1, p. 164.
24. (obsolete, Scotland, Northern England) To twist or turn.
25. (American football) Synonym of pass
26. (transitive, of a punch or boxing combination) To deliver.
  Quotations
  ···not only did I not want to throw a punch at him, I wanted to give him a solid silver token of thanks···
  1941, Newsweek‎, volume 18, page 54
27. (transitive, veterinary medicine) Of animals: to give birth to (young).
  Quotations
  At the end of the normal gestation period the cow threw two calf mummies as large as cats.
  1916, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, volume 49
  "They can kid twice a year if things are right, and they often throw twins and triplets."
  2008, Monte Dwyer, Red In The Centre: The Australian Bush Through Urban Eyes, Monyer Pty Ltd, page 200
noun
plural throws
1. The flight of a thrown object.
2. The act of throwing something.
  Quotations
  If the expression is a throw, we unwind the stack seeking a handler expression.
  2006, Hans-Wolfgang Loidl, Trends in Functional Programming, volume 5, page 62
3. One's ability to throw.
4. A distance travelled; displacement.
  Quotations
  The visibility of the screen image is affected by the length of throw of the projector, the type of projector, the intensity of the projector lamp, and the type of the screen.
  1947, James Jerome Gibson, Motion Picture Testing and Research, number 7, page 49
5. A piece of fabric used to cover a bed, sofa or other soft furnishing.
6. A single instance, occurrence, venture, or chance.
7. (veterinary medicine) The act of giving birth in animals, especially in cows.

throw²

/θɹəʊ/

noun
plural throws
1. (obsolete) A moment, time, occasion.
2. (obsolete) A period of time; a while.
  Quotations
  Downe himselfe he layd / Vpon the grassie ground, to sleepe a throw; / The cold earth was his couch, the hard steele his pillow.
  1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie

throw³

/θɹəʊ/

noun
plural throws
1. Obsolete spelling of throe
  Quotations
  O man haue mind of that laſt bitter throvv; / For as the tree does fall, ſo lyes it euer lovv.
  1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, stanza 41, page 146
  [Valerius] Cordus ſaith, that Iuncus bombicinus ſodden in vvine, and ſo taken, helpeth the throvves and gripings of the bellie, that vvomen haue in their childing.
  1597, John Gerarde [i.e., John Gerard], “Of Cotton Grasse”, in The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. […], London: […] Edm[und] Bollifant, for Bonham and Iohn Norton, book I, page 27
  Commend me to them, / And tell them, that to eaſe them of their greefes, / Their feares of Hoſtile ſtrokes, their Aches loſſes, / Their pangs of Loue, vvith other incident throvves / That Natures fragile Veſſell doth ſuſtaine / In lifes vncertaine voyage, I vvill ſome kindnes do them, […]
  c. 1605–1608, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act V, scene ii], page 97, column 1
  I'll viſit their Diſtreſs vvith Plagues and Miſeries, / The throvvs that VVomens Labours vvait, / Convulſive Pangs, and bloody Svveat, / Their Beauty ſhall conſume, and vital Spirits ſeize.
  1693, Thomas Yalden, “The Curse of Babylon. Paraphras’d from the Thirteenth Chapter of Isaia. A Pindaric Ode.”, in Examen Poeticum: Being the Third Part of Miscellany Poems. […], London: […] R. E. for Jacob Tonson, […], stanza 5, pages 314–315
  I had then ſuch Convulſions in my Stomach, for want of ſome Suſtenance, that I cannot deſcribe; with ſuch frequent Throws and Pangs of Appetite, that nothing but the Tortures of Death can imitate; […]
  1719, [Daniel Defoe], The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], page 203
  Seiz'd by the general joy, his heart diſtends / With gentle throws; […]
  1730, James Thomson, “Autumn”, in The Seasons, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, and sold by Thomas Cadell, […], published 1768, page 161, lines 1322–1323
  In this Shape, or in that, has Fate entail'd / The Mother's Throws on all of Woman born, / Not more the Children, than ſure Heirs of Pain.
  1742, [Edward Young], “Night the First. On Life, Death, and Immortality. […]”, in The Complaint: Or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death, & Immortality, London: […] [Samuel Richardson] for A[ndrew] Millar […], and R[obert] Dodsley […], published 1750, page 14
  [W]e never know the full force of parental affection till our children are about to be taken from us. It is then that we discover how strongly they have entwined themselves round our hearts; when we behold the fixed eye, the pale lips, the convulsive throws of death distorting the countenance; or when with aching and throbbing hearts we deposit those who are a part of ourselves in the cold and silent grave.
  1806 October, J. H. K., “Hints on the Manner in which Christian Parents should Improve the Death of Children”, in The Evangelical Magazine, volume XIV, London: […] [G. Auld] for Williams and Smith, […], page 441
verb
third-person singular simple present throws, present participle throwing, simple past threw, past participle thrown
1. Obsolete spelling of throe
  Quotations
  Pre-thee ſay on, / The ſetting of thine eye, and cheeke proclaime / A matter from thee; and a birth, indeed, / Which throwes thee much to yeeld.
  1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene i], page 8, column 1

Definition of "throw"

throw1

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throw2

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throw¹

throw²

throw³