throw
/θɹəʊ/
"throw" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“throw” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,581 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #1,581
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To hurl; to release (an object) with some force from one’s hands, an apparatus, etc. so that it moves rapidly through the air.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | throw |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /θɹəʊ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #1,581 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “throw” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for throw is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /θɹəʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,581 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 27 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for throw, with forms such as "htrow", "thhrow", and "thorw". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "tow", "Troy", "thru", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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”). Cognate with Scots … The correct English form is throw, spelled T-H-R-O-W.
Definition
- 1To hurl; to release (an object) with some force from one’s hands, an apparatus, etc. so that it moves rapidly through the air.
- 2To eject or cause to fall off.
- 3To move to another position or condition; to displace.
- 4To make (a pot) by shaping clay as it turns on a wheel.
- 5To deliver (the ball) illegally by straightening the bowling arm during delivery.
- 6To send (an error) to an exception-handling mechanism in order to interrupt normal processing.
- 7To intentionally lose a game.
- 8(of a game where one’s role is throwing something) To perform in a specified way in (a match).
- 9To confuse or mislead.
- 10To send hastily or desperately.
- 11To imprison.
- 12To organize an event, especially a party.
- 13To roll (a die or dice).
- 14To cause a certain number on the die or dice to be shown after rolling it.
- 15To discard.
- 16To lift or unbalance one’s opponent and then bring him back down to the ground, especially into a position behind the thrower.
- 17To change (one’s voice) in order to give the illusion that the voice is that of someone else, or coming from a different place.
- 18To show sudden emotion, especially anger.
- 19To project or send forth.
- 20To put on hastily; to spread carelessly.
- 21To 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.
- 22To select (a pitcher); to assign a pitcher to a given role (such as starter or reliever).
- 23To install (a bridge).
- 24To twist or turn.
- 25Synonym of pass.
- 26To deliver.
- 27Of animals: to give birth to (young).
Etymology
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”). Cognate with Scots thraw (“to twist, turn, throw”), West Frisian triuwe (“to push”), Dutch draaien (“to turn”), Low German draien, dreien (“to turn (in a lathe)”), German drehen (“to turn”). Displaced warp as the word for hurling and was displaced by warp as the word for twisting.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: htrow,thhrow,thorw,throww,thrrow,thrwo,trhow,tthrow
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of throw - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “throw”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-H-R-O-W - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /θɹəʊ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “tow” - see the side-by-side comparison. throw vs tow
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.