Threw is the past tense of the verb throw, which means to propel something through the air using your arm. Yesterday you threw a baseball, last week your friend threw a frisbee, and last month the quarterback threw a touchdown pass.

When you throw something, you use force to send it from your hand toward a target or destination. You might throw a ball to a teammate, throw away trash, or throw a stick for your dog to fetch. The word describes both careful, aimed throws (like tossing car keys to someone) and wild, forceful ones (like throwing a rock as far as you can into a lake).

Threw appears in many expressions: someone who gets confused might say a problem “threw them for a loop,” meaning it surprised and disoriented them. A friend who betrays you might “throw you under the bus” by blaming you for something. When someone gives up, they might “throw in the towel,” a phrase from boxing where a boxer's trainer literally throws a towel into the ring to signal surrender.

Be careful not to confuse threw with through, which sounds identical but means something completely different (moving from one side to the other, like walking through a doorway).