NYT Dictionary

THROW

/θɹoʊ/
VerbNounTHROHGrade 3

Accepted in official NYT Spelling Bee puzzle years: 2018, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025

Meaning

To hurl; to release (an object) with some force from one’s hands, an apparatus, etc. so that it moves rapidly through the air.

Etymology

Origin: Old English

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. The use in computing comes from the fact, that in programming languages a statement reporting an error interrupts normal processing and sends an error object up the function calling stack until a handling statement intercepts it. Thus an “object” is “thrown” and “flies” until it is “caught”.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

bungcastflinghurlejectthrow offdisplacerelocatetake a divepass

Antonyms

NYT Puzzle Appearances

Accepted in 4 recorded puzzles:

Join the Spelling Bee Community

Get solving strategies, rare word lists, and puzzle tips in your inbox every week.