# throw

> English word · Verb · IPA /θɹəʊ/ · frequency rank #1,581

## Definitions
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.
2. To eject or cause to fall off.
3. To move to another position or condition; to displace.
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.
7. To intentionally lose a game.
8. (of a game where one’s role is throwing something) To perform in a specified way in (a match).
9. To confuse or mislead.
10. To send hastily or desperately.
11. To imprison.
12. To organize an event, especially a party.
13. To roll (a die or dice).
14. To cause a certain number on the die or dice to be shown after rolling it.
15. To discard.
16. To lift or unbalance one’s opponent and then bring him back down to the ground, especially into a position behind the thrower.
17. To change (one’s voice) in order to give the illusion that the voice is that of someone else, or coming from a different place.
18. To show sudden emotion, especially anger.
19. To project or send forth.
20. To put on hastily; to spread carelessly.
21. To 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.
22. To select (a pitcher); to assign a pitcher to a given role (such as starter or reliever).
23. To install (a bridge).
24. To twist or turn.
25. Synonym of pass.
26. To deliver.
27. Of 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.

## Easily confused with
- **tow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/throw-vs-tow)
- **Troy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/throw-vs-troy)
- **thru** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/throw-vs-thru)
- **toro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/throw-vs-toro)
- **trot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/throw-vs-trot)
- **Tyrol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/throw-vs-tyrol)
- **thrown** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/throw-vs-thrown)
- **throws** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/throw-vs-throws)
- **thrower** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/throw-vs-thrower)
- **tho** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tho-vs-throw)
- **thou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thou-vs-throw)
- **Thor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thor-vs-throw)
- **Theo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/theo-vs-throw)
- **Thom** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thom-vs-throw)
- **thaw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thaw-vs-throw)
- **taro** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/taro-vs-throw)
- **thon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thon-vs-throw)
- **thot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/thot-vs-throw)
- **three** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/three-vs-throw)
- **threw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/threw-vs-throw)

## Common misspellings (8)
`htrow`, `thhrow`, `thorw`, `throww`, `thrrow`, `thrwo`, `trhow`, `tthrow`

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