throw away

verb

"throw-away" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“throw away” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To discard (trash, garbage, or the like), to toss out, to put in the trash.

Corpus desk

Index EN-throw-away · throw away · English

throw away · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "T" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for throw away
PropertyValue
Headwordthrow away
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “throw away” in English

throw awaysits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

throw away is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for throw away in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is throw away, spelled T-H-R-O-W- -A-W-A-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    To discard (trash, garbage, or the like), to toss out, to put in the trash.
  2. 2
    To waste, to squander.
  3. 3
    To intentionally throw an incomplete pass.
  4. 4
    To give lightly, in an offhand manner.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how throw away appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. He wanted to throw away the cup, but he couldn't find a trash can.
  2. Don't throw the newspaper away, it goes in the recycle bin!

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "throw away"?
"throw away" is spelled T-H-R-O-W- -A-W-A-Y.
What does "throw away" mean?
As a verb, "throw away" means: To discard (trash, garbage, or the like), to toss out, to put in the trash.
What language does "throw away" come from?
"throw away" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list