throw
/θɹoʊ/verb, noun
throw is spelled T-H-R-O-W: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 68 times per million words in written English, the 1,562nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “through vs throw” about 10 times a month (Bing, United States). As a verb, throw means “To hurl; to release (an object) with some force from one’s hands, an apparatus, etc. so that it moves rapidly through the air” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in throw?
| Letters | 5: T-H-R-O-W |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 68 times per million words; the 1,562nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is throw?
Throw appears 68 times per million words in written English, the 1,562nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce throw?
- UK /θɹəʊ/
- UK [θɾ̪̊əʊ]
- US /θɹoʊ/
Throw has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-throe.wav, En-us-throw.ogg, En-au-throw.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with throw
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: throe (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with throw?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as throw from its last stressed vowel (/oʊ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: worth, wroth.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of throw
- throws present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- throwing participle, present
- threw past, singular, he/she/it, plural
- thrown participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does throw mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To hurl; to release (an object) with some force from one’s hands, an apparatus, etc. so that it moves rapidly through the air.
throw a shoe; throw a javelin
- 2
To eject or cause to fall off.
the horse threw its rider
- 3
To move to another position or condition; to displace.
throw the switch
- 4
To make (a pot) by shaping clay as it turns on a wheel.
- 5
To deliver (the ball) illegally by straightening the bowling arm during delivery.
- 6
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
To intentionally lose a game.
The tennis player was accused of taking bribes to throw the match.
- 8
(of a game where one’s role is throwing something) To perform in a specified way in (a match).
The pitcher threw a perfect game.
noun
- 1
The act of throwing something.
With an accurate throw, he lassoed the cow.
- 2
A move in which one lifts or unbalances one’s opponent and then brings him down to the ground.
- 3
One’s ability to throw.
He’s always had a pretty decent throw.
- 4
The distance travelled by something thrown.
a stone's throw
- 5
The flight of a thrown object.
- 6
A distance travelled in general; displacement.
the throw of the piston
- 7
A piece of fabric used to cover a bed, sofa or other soft furnishing.
- 8
informalA single instance, occurrence, venture, or chance.
Football tickets are expensive at fifty bucks a throw.
- 9
obsoleteA moment, time, occasion.
- 10
obsoleteA period of time; a while.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Throw in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | jeter, lancer , déplacer, bouger , jet, lancement |
| German | werfen, schmeißen |
| Portuguese | lançar, atirar, arremessar, jogar , lançamento , expelir |
| Spanish | lanzar, tirar, arrojar, despeñar, desbarrancar, desgalgar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does throw come from?
From Middle English throwen, thrawen, from Old English þrāwan (“to turn, twist”), from Proto-West Germanic *þrāan, from Proto-Germanic *þrēaną (“to twist, turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *terh₁- (“to rub, rub by twisting, twist, turn”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).