# throe

> English word · Noun · IPA /θɹəʊ/

## Definitions
1. A severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die.
2. A severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die.
3. Any severe pang or spasm, especially an outburst of feeling; a paroxysm.
4. A hard struggle, especially one associated with the beginning or finishing of a task.

## 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).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/throe