throe

4 definitions found

throe - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Throe \Throe\, v. i.
     To struggle in extreme pain; to be in agony; to agonize.
     [1913 Webster]

  Throe \Throe\, v. t.
     To put in agony. [R.] --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]

  Throe \Throe\, n. [OE. [thorn]rowe, [thorn]rawe, AS.
     [thorn]re['a] a threatening, oppression, suffering, perhaps
     influenced by Icel. [thorn]r[=a] a throe, a pang, a longing;
     cf. AS. [thorn]reowian to suffer.]
     1. Extreme pain; violent pang; anguish; agony; especially,
        one of the pangs of travail in childbirth, or purturition.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Prodogious motion felt, and rueful throes. --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A tool for splitting wood into shingles; a frow.
        [1913 Webster]

throe - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  throe
      n 1: severe spasm of pain; "the throes of dying"; "the throes of
           childbirth"
      2: hard or painful trouble or struggle; "a country in the throes
         of economic collapse"