Throes - throws
From Hull AWE
Revision as of 19:30, 19 June 2015 by DavidWalker (Talk | contribs)
These homophones - both words are pronounced IPA: /θrəʊz/ - have sometimes been confused.
- Throws is the plural of the noun 'a throw', as in 'Each player has two throws of the dice'.
- As a verb, throws is the 3rd person singular of the verb 'to throw', as in 'He throws the ball'.
- Throes are literally muscular spasms or contractions. We can say that a woman is 'in the throes of childbirth'. We talk of the 'death throes' of a hunted animal - the last few desperate movements of the muscles of the dying organism. We can also use the word figuratively. A writer beating their brows for inspiration might be said to be 'in the throes of composition'. A man groaning and twitching might be 'in the throes of' despair - or love!
Never write that someone 'is in thethrowsof' an emotion, etc. This just betrays your lack of knowledge. It should be someone 'is in the throes of' an emotion, etc.