rare. [f. prec. sb.]
† 1. trans. To cause to suffer throes; to agonize as in childbirth; to torture. Obs. rare.
1610. Shaks., Temp., II. i. 231. A birth … Which throwes thee much to yeeld.
1683. Kennett, trans. Erasm. on Folly, 51. How many … pangs of a labouring mind ye are perpetually thrown and tortured with.
2. intr. To suffer throes; to agonize; to be convulsed, ‘labor,’ struggle painfully.
a. 1618. [see below].
1880. L. Wallace, Ben-Hur (1887), 388. His memory began to throe and struggle.
Hence Throeing vbl. sb.
a. 1618. Sylvester, Honour’s Fare-well, 105. Soul’s sad Repenting, and Heart’s heavy Throeing, Are surest Fruits that in the World are growing.
