throw down
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Forms: form: throws down
form: throwing down
form: threw down
form: thrown down
Etymology: US, popularized 1970s in street culture, from idiom throw down the gauntlet (“to issue a challenge”), used in sense “to fight, to incite a fight, to make a stand” or otherwise get about partying with abandon (first used by Jay Johnson in Detroit in 1978 - taken nationally by Cecil Franklin, manager/brother of Aretha Franklin).
Sense of “accomplish something respectable” evolved from sense “to make a stand, to exhibit, to demonstrate (in a challenging way)” inherent in the fighting sense.
Sense of “to make a contribution” likely influenced by sense “to make a stand”, as in “are you in?”, “will you stand up and contribute?”
Senses: examples: text: The soldiers threw down their weapons and surrendered.
synonyms: cast down
cast aside
throw aside
glosses: To cause something one is holding to drop, often forcefully.
examples: to throw down a tower
glosses: To destroy or demolish.
examples: text: ...this guide tracks the artists and recordings that throw down the funk!
ref: 2001, Dave Thompson, Funk, back cover:
text: “Punch up the rhymes. Throw down some beats. Show off that body. You'll be unstoppable.”
ref: 2004, Kylie Adams, Ex-Girlfriends, page 48:
glosses: To produce or perform (something) admirably or forcefully.
examples: text: Yeah, they could literally throw down. When their sound came out, it was earth-shaking.
ref: 1997, Richard C. Green, Soul: Black Power, Politics, and Pleasure, page 93:
text: “You're performing for the who's who of radio and records at the Soul Train Awards tonight and you've got to throw down”.
ref: 1998, Sheila Copeland, Chocolate Star, page 260:
glosses: To accomplish or produce something in a grand, respectable, or successful manner; to "represent".
examples: text: "We need to finish these five pitchers in half an hour, so throw down as fast as you can!"
glosses: To drink a large amount quickly.
examples: text: Let's you and me 'throw down' right here, right now!
ref: 2002, Lory Janelle Dance, Tough Fronts: The Impact of Street Culture on Schooling, page 60:
text: When someone near me at a show called the band My Boring Racket, I was ready to throw down, but for the good sense of an accompanying female...
ref: 2004, William Bowers, “I Think I'm Going to Hell”, in Da Capo Best Music Writing 2004, page 41:
text: Today's young and hip black male who fancies himself a radical, who is ready to throw down for the cause, is not talking about neo-colonialism, about global struggle.
ref: 2004, bell hooks, We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity, page 59:
text: She said no words and was the first to throw down. She stepped up to Dee, and pow!
ref: 2006, Erick S. Gray, Nasty Girls: An Urban Novel, page 32:
text: The time has come. I'm ready to take action. I wanna kick ass and take names later. I wanna throw down, baby boy and baby girl.
ref: 2006, Sherman D. Manning, Blue-Eyed Blonde, page 345:
glosses: To fight; to make a stand.
examples: text: "We're goin' in on a pizza; you in?" "Yeah, I'll throw down."
glosses: To make an individual contribution to a group effort (e.g. money pool, collaborative record album).
Related terms: throwdown
throw-down
throw down the gauntlet
bring it
throw up