throw down

Meaning

1. (transitive) To cause something one is holding to drop, often forcefully.
2. (dated, transitive) To destroy or demolish.
3. (idiomatic, slang, transitive) To produce or perform (something) admirably or forcefully.
4. (broadly, idiomatic, intransitive, slang) To accomplish or produce something in a grand, respectable, or successful manner; to "represent".
5. (idiomatic, intransitive, slang) To drink a large amount quickly.
6. (idiomatic, intransitive, slang) To fight; to make a stand.
7. (idiomatic, intransitive, slang) To make an individual contribution to a group effort (e.g. money pool, collaborative record album).

Synonyms

bring down

fell

drop

fling down

chuck down

knock down

overthrow

cast down

hurl down

make fall

throw away

dump

beat

lower

stumble

subvert

let fall

topple

let down

throw

lay down

go down to

let drop

put through

reject

renounce

sacrifice

scatter

squash

strike down

take up

thresh

throw in

throw off

throw out

throw up

fling down the gauntlet

wrestle

blow down

cause to fall

place down

fling down one’s tools

fling to

throw oneself to the floor

throw oneself to the ground

throw someone to the floor

throw someone to the ground

toss down

abandon

pitch down

Translations

jeter en bas

abattre

hinwerfen

gettare a terra

tirar

vaincre

despeñar

قذ

سقلب

أكبب

ندس

وقذ

ausstrecken

hinauswerfen

منطر

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?”