throe

Meaning

Noun

1. (error-lua-exec) A severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die.
2. (error-lua-exec, plural-normally) A severe pang or spasm of pain, especially one experienced when the uterus contracts during childbirth, or when a person is about to die.
3. Any severe pang or spasm, especially an outburst of feeling; a paroxysm.
4. (figuratively, plural-normally) A hard struggle, especially one associated with the beginning or finishing of a task.

Verb

1. (obsolete, transitive) To cause (someone) to feel throes, as if in childbirth; to put in agony.
2. (intransitive, obsolete) To feel throes; to struggle in extreme pain; to be in agony; to agonize.

Synonyms

pain

anguish

terebration

megalgia

stound

acute pain

pang

spasm

suspense

tetany

tetanilla

affliction

agony

convulsion

cramp

kink

Translations

espasmo

dolore acuto

Agonie

αγωνία

άλγος

οδύνη

βίαιος σπασμός

agonie

stuiptrekking

agonia

paroxismo

dolor

paroxismo

dert

elem

Pronounced as (IPA)

/θɹəʊ/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: throu

Inherited from Old English: þrawu

Inherited from Old English: þrōwian

Inherited from Middle English: throuen

Cognate with Middle English: throu

In summary

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).