throe
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: The noun is probably derived partly:
* from Middle English throu, throwe (“(chiefly in the plural) uterine contraction during the birth of a child; pain experienced while giving birth; suffering; a pain; emotional distress, anxiety”) [and other forms], perhaps from:
** Old English þrawu (rare), a variant of þrēa (“affliction, torment; disaster; oppression; a rebuke; severity; threat”), from Proto-West Germanic *þrau, from Proto-Germanic *þrawō (“longing; suffering”), from Proto-Indo-European *trewh₁-; and
** Old English þrōwian (“to endure, suffer”), from Proto-Germanic *þrōwijaną, probably from *þrawō (see above); and
** Old Norse þrá (“longing, yearning”), from Proto-Germanic *þrawō (see above); and
* from Middle English throuen (“to endure distress, suffer; to be ill, to have a fever; to suffer (death, hardship, illness, punishment, etc.); to endure (sadness, hard work, etc.)”) [and other forms], from Old English þrōwian (see above).
The current spelling of the word is a 16th-century variant of Middle English throu, throwe, perhaps to avoid confusion with throw (“act of turning or twisting; fit of bad temper or peevishness; look of anger, bad temper, irritation, etc., a grimace”).
The verb is derived:
* from the noun; and
* perhaps from Middle English throuen (verb) (see above).
Inflected forms:
form: throes
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: throw
pos: noun
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: A severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die.
pos: noun
tags: error-lua-exec
examples: O man haue mind of that laſt bitter throw; / For as the tree does fall, ſo lyes it euer low.
[Valerius] Cordus ſaith, that Iuncus bombicinus ſodden in wine, and ſo taken, helpeth the throwes and gripings of the bellie, that women haue in their childing.
[M]ine own entrails did sustain / Moan for my daughter's yet unended throes, […]
Penſive here I ſat / Alone, but long I ſat not, till my womb / Pregnant by thee, and now exceſſive grown / Prodigious motion felt and rueful throes.
Thus round her new fal'n Young, the Heifer moves, / Fruit of her Throes, and Firſt-born of her Loves, / And anxious, (helpleſs as he lies, and bare) / Turns, and returns her, with a Mother's Care.
In this Shape, or in that, has Fate entail'd / The Mother's Throws on all of Woman born, / Not more the Children, than ſure Heirs of Pain.
[W]e never know the full force of parental affection till our children are about to be taken from us. It is then that we discover how strongly they have entwined themselves round our hearts; when we behold the fixed eye, the pale lips, the convulsive throws of death distorting the countenance; or when with aching and throbbing hearts we deposit those who are a part of ourselves in the cold and silent grave.
Nature has her tortures as well as art, and how happy should we think the man who escapes from the throes of a mortal and painful disorder, in the space of a short half hour?
gloss: A severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die.
pos: noun
tags: error-lua-exec
plural-normally
examples: As if their own indignant earth, / Which gave the sons of England birth, / Had felt their blood upon her brow, / And shuddering with a mother's throe, / Had turned every drop of blood, / By which her face had been bedewed / To an accent unwithstood, / As if her heart had cried aloud: […]
gloss: Any severe pang or spasm, especially an outburst of feeling; a paroxysm.
pos: noun
examples: Commend me to them, / And tell them, that to eaſe them of their greefes, / Their feares of Hoſtile ſtrokes, their Aches loſſes, / Their pangs of Loue, with other incident throwes / That Natures fragile Veſſell doth ſuſtaine / In lifes vncertaine voyage, I will ſome kindnes do them, […]
I had then ſuch Convulſions in my Stomach, for want of ſome Suſtenance, that I cannot deſcribe; with ſuch frequent Throws and Pangs of Appetite, that nothing but the Tortures of Death can imitate; […]
Seiz'd by the general joy, his heart diſtends / With gentle throws; […]
But ask thou not if Happiness be there, / If the loud laugh disguise convulsive throe, / Or if the brow the heart's true livery wear; […]
gloss: A hard struggle, especially one associated with the beginning or finishing of a task.
pos: noun
tags: figuratively
plural-normally
examples: Of the group, Max (Room’s Jacob Tremblay) is the most nominally mature, at least biologically speaking; unlike his childhood companions, he’s entered the early throes of puberty, and spends a lot of his waking hours pining, rather chastely, for a classmate (Millie Davis).
Related words: agony
pain
Derived words: death throe
in the throes of
throes of passion
Translations:
lang: Aramaic
word: ܚܒܠܐ
roman: ḥeḇlā
lang: Bulgarian
word: спазъм
roman: spazǎm
lang: Dutch
word: stuiptrekking
lang: Finnish
word: kouristus
lang: French
word: agonie
lang: German
word: Agonie
lang: German
word: Krampf
lang: German
word: Wehen
lang: Ancient Greek
word: ὠδῑ́ς
roman: ōdī́s
lang: Russian
word: му́ки
roman: múki
lang: Russian
word: предсме́ртная аго́ния
roman: predsmértnaja agónija
lang: Russian
word: спазм
roman: spazm
lang: Scots
word: thraw
lang: Spanish
word: agonía
lang: Spanish
word: dolor