| throe | 1. Extreme pain; violent pang; anguish; agony; especially, one of the pangs of travail in childbirth, or purturition. "Prodogious motion felt, and rueful throes." (Milton) 2. A tool for splitting wood into shingles; a frow. Origin: OE. Rowe, rave, AS. Rea a threatening, oppression, suffering, perhaps influenced by Icel. Ra a throe, a pang, a longing; cf. AS. Reowian to suffer. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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