Contextualizebeta

throe

noun
/θɹəʊ/UK/θɹoʊ/US

Etymology

The noun is probably derived partly: * from Middle English throu, throwe (“(chiefly in the plural) uterine contraction during the birth of a child; pain experienced while giving birth; suffering; a pain; emotional distress, anxiety”) [and other forms], perhaps from: ** Old English þrawu (rare), a variant of þrēa (“affliction, torment; disaster; oppression; a rebuke; severity; threat”), from Proto-West Germanic *þrau, from Proto-Germanic *þrawō (“longing; suffering”), from Proto-Indo-European *trewh₁-; and ** Old English þrōwian (“to endure, suffer”), from Proto-Germanic *þrōwijaną, probably from *þrawō (see above); and ** Old Norse þrá (“longing, yearning”), from Proto-Germanic *þrawō (see above); and * from Middle English throuen (“to endure distress, suffer; to be ill, to have a fever; to suffer (death, hardship, illness, punishment, etc.); to endure (sadness, hard work, etc.)”) [and other forms], from Old English þrōwian (see above). The current spelling of the word is a 16th-century variant of Middle English throu, throwe, perhaps to avoid confusion with throw (“act of turning or twisting; fit of bad temper or peevishness; look of anger, bad temper, irritation, etc., a grimace”). The verb is derived: * from the noun; and * perhaps from Middle English throuen (verb) (see above).

  1. inherited from throuen
  2. inherited from þrōwian
  3. inherited from throuen — “to endure distress, suffer; to be ill, to have a fever; to suffer (death, hardship, illness, punishment, etc.); to endure (sadness, hard work, etc.)”
  4. derived from *þrawō✻
  5. derived from þrá — “longing, yearning”
  6. inherited from *þrōwijaną✻
  7. inherited from þrōwian — “to endure, suffer”
  8. inherited from *trewh₁-✻
  9. inherited from *þrawō✻ — “longing; suffering”
  10. inherited from *þrau✻
  11. inherited from þrawu
  12. inherited from throu

Definitions

  1. A severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts…

    A severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die.

    • O man haue mind of that laſt bitter throw; / For as the tree does fall, ſo lyes it euer low.
    • [Valerius] Cordus ſaith, that Iuncus bombicinus ſodden in wine, and ſo taken, helpeth the throwes and gripings of the bellie, that women haue in their childing.
    • [M]ine own entrails did sustain / Moan for my daughter's yet unended throes, […]

  2. Any severe pang or spasm, especially an outburst of feeling

    Any severe pang or spasm, especially an outburst of feeling; a paroxysm.

    • 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; […]
    • Seiz'd by the general joy, his heart diſtends / With gentle throws; […]

  3. A hard struggle, especially one associated with the beginning or finishing of a task.

  4. ›+ 3 more definitions

    1. To cause (someone) to feel throes, as if in childbirth

      To cause (someone) to feel throes, as if in childbirth; to put in agony.

      • 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.

    2. To feel throes

      To feel throes; to struggle in extreme pain; to be in agony; to agonize.

      • [W]hile yet he gazed at the wonderful countenance, his memory began to throe and struggle.

    3. Synonym of froe (“a cleaving tool for splitting cask staves and shingles from a block of…

      Synonym of froe (“a cleaving tool for splitting cask staves and shingles from a block of wood”).

The neighborhood

Derived

death throe, in the throes of, throes of passion

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for throe. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA