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by Liz Walter

My last two posts have looked at figurative and idiomatic uses of the verb ‘throw’. My final post on this remarkably useful verb will focus on some of the phrasal verbs formed with it.

Probably the most common one is throw (something) away, meaning to get rid of something you don’t want, usually by putting it in a dustbin or some other place for collecting waste materials. Throw (something) out is very similar, but we usually use it when we remove things from our homes or another place, not when we simply put them in a bin. Slightly more figuratively, if you throw a person out of a group or organization, you force them to leave, often because they have done something wrong:

If you don’t eat this food, I’ll have to throw it away.

He threw out all his old college books.

He was thrown out of school for cheating in an exam.

My next phrasal verb is informal and rather unpleasant, but worth learning because it is quite common. To throw up means to vomit, or bring food from your stomach back through your mouth. This verb can also be used transitively to talk about the food that comes out:

She threw up over the side of the boat.

He was so nervous, he threw up his lunch.

Throw (something) up can also mean to produce new problems or ideas. In British (but not American) English, if you throw up a job, you choose to leave it, usually rather suddenly. On the other hand, if you throw yourself into an activity, you do it with great enthusiasm and energy:

The process has thrown up some issues with the software.

He threw up his career and moved to Mexico.

She threw herself into the task of restoring the building.

When someone is trying to sell something, they may agree to throw in something extra for no extra cost, either because they are being generous or because they think it will make the sale more likely:

He sold me his violin for a good price and even threw in the case.

I’ll finish with a phrasal verb that is usually used in the passive. If you are thrown back on something, you have to rely on it because any previous options you had are no longer available. This is often used in the phrase be thrown back on your own resources, meaning that you have to manage without help from anyone else:

With nobody to look after us, we were thrown back on our own resources.

I hope you find these posts on ‘throw’ useful. I’ll be changing to a completely different topic next time!