Forms: 4 (pr. pple.) þrobbant, (6 frob), 6–7 throbbe, 6– throb. [The pr. pple. throbbant occurs in Piers Plowman, 1362; no other examples of the word are known till 1542, when frob occurs in a letter; throbbe, throb is known from 1553. Apparently echoic: no cognate word in Teutonic or Romanic.]
1. intr. Of the heart: To beat strongly, esp. as the result of emotion or excitement; to palpitate. Sometimes said of the pulse, bosom, temples, brain, or even of the blood in the vessels.
1362. [implied in THROBBING ppl. a.].
1542. St. Papers Hen. VIII., IX. 124. My hart frobbed exceedingly.
1553. Respublica, I. iii. 157. But een as against suche a thing my harte wyll throbbe.
1588. Shaks., Tit. A., V. iii. 95. Your hearts will throb and weepe to hear him speake.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., IV. x. 53. Whome soone as I beheld, my hart gan throb.
1738. Pope, Epil. Sat., i. 103. No cheek is known to blush, no heart to throb.
1741. Richardson, Pamela (1824), I. 120. O my exulting heart! how it throbs in my bosom.
1825. J. Neal, Bro. Jonathan, III. 206. His temples throbbed—his head rang.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, xxx. His pulse was throbbing and his cheeks flushed.
1860. Tyndall, Glac., I. xi. 81. At each pause my heart throbbed audibly:
1865. Swinburne, Rococo, 55. Throbs through the heart of pleasure The purpler blood of pain.
b. To beat as the heart does normally; to pulsate. rare.
1653. [implied in THROB sb. b]
1725. N. Robinson, Th. Physick, 27. The Hearts of several Animals … will throb and beat, some time after they have been exempted from the Body.
1831. Scott, Cast. Dang., xx. Whose cause … the champions were bound to avenge while the blood throbbed in their veins.
c. transf. Said of the emotion or the like which affects the heart. In quot. 1591 trans. nonce-use (cf. weep = bewail). Cf. PULSATE v. 1 b, PULSE v. 2 b.
1591. Troub. Raigne K. John, x. 21. Deepe sorrow throbbeth misbefalne euents.
1799. Ht. Lee, Canterb, T., Frenchm. T. (ed. 2), I. 233. Fear still throbbed over her frame.
1819. Byron, Juan, II. cxxxiv. Not even a vision of his former woes Throbb’d in accursed dreams.
1820. W. Irving, Sketch Bk., I. 176. The simple affections of human nature throbbing under the ermine.
1881. H. James, Portr. Lady, xv. A feeling of freedom … which … occasionally throbbed into joyous excitement.
d. transf. Of a person, a body of people, etc.: To feel or exhibit emotion; to quiver.
1841–4. Emerson, Ess., Love, Wks. (Bohn), I. 74. We … throb at the recollection of days when happiness was not happy enough.
1862. Burton, Bk. Hunter (1863), 8. The world throbs with the excitement of some wonderful criminal trial.
1863. Kinglake, Crimea (1877), II. xi. 124. A vast empire was made to throb with the passions which rent the bosom of the one man Nicholas.
1878. R. W. Dale, Lect. Preach., ix. 278. I like to have two or three hymns throbbing with emotion.
2. gen. To be moved or move rhythmically; to pulsate, vibrate, beat.
1847. Emerson, Woodnotes, ii. And God said, ‘Throb!’ and there was motion, And the vast mass became vast ocean.
1865. Holland, Plain T., ii. 74. Her whole being throbbed and sparkled like the sea.
1870. Morris, Earthly Par., III. IV. 15. The very air … Throbbed with sweet scent.
1889. Doyle, Micah Clarke, 59. One great beacon throbbed upon the summit of Bulster.
1905. R. Garnett, Shaks., 106. The verdant level and the slow canal Shall bristle with our pikes, throb with our drums.
b. esp. said of a steamship with reference to the beat of the engine. Also trans. with way as obj.
1864. Lowell, Fireside Trav., 111. We embarked on the little steamer M., and were soon throbbing up the lake.
1873. Black, Pr. Thule, viii. Then the big steamer throbbed its way out of the harbour.
3. trans. To cause to throb or beat violently. rare.
1606. Warner, Alb. Eng., XV. xciv. (1612), 376. I know not why, but sure it throbs my heart of late.
1821. Clare, Vill. Minstr., II. 200. That intense, enthusiastic glow That throbs the bosom.
1911. T. B. Kilpatrick, N. Test. Evangelism, 105. ii. § 2. Samuel Rutherford of Anwoth by the Solway, whose passionate devotion throbs his letters.
