- present participle of throb.
throbbing
Americanadjective
-
beating or pulsing rapidly or forcefully, as the heart under the influence of emotion or excitement.
One may use a sweet, patient tone and words, but the throbbing vein in the temple betrays one’s anger.
-
feeling or exhibiting strong emotion or passion.
As he spoke to the students crashing the climate convention, he was clearly thrilled to be there in that throbbing mass of youthful exuberance.
-
pulsating or vibrating regularly.
The throbbing sound was now at full volume, and it was indeed drums—deep, heavy goatskin drums.
-
being or feeling pain that occurs in rhythmic waves or bursts.
A sinus infection often results in a throbbing headache.
He pounded on the closed door, but with no effect apart from a throbbing fist.
-
full of or characterized by lively energy.
This throbbing metropolis is also the world capital of salsa.
noun
-
throbbings
plural
-
the act of beating fast or forcefully, pulsating or vibrating, or occurring in rhythmic waves.
The pain in his shoulder had subsided to a dull throbbing.
Astronomers have measured the throbbing of a sun-like star 24 light-years away.
-
the act or fact of feeling or exhibiting strong emotion or passion.
The throbbing of my rage was so powerful that the ground trembled.
-
lively energy.
Feel the throbbing of the world’s cultures at the annual international festival this weekend!
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of throbbing
First recorded in 1400–50; throb ( def. ) + -ing 2 ( def. ) for the adjective senses; throb ( def. ) + -ing 1 ( def. ) for the noun senses
Explanation
If something's pulsing like a heartbeat, it's throbbing. When you stop and catch your breath after a long run, you might hear your throbbing pulse in your ears. An injury that's throbbing with pain pounds with regular beats: "I have a throbbing headache." Music is often described as throbbing too, beating and pounding with deep bass notes from a club or a car — or maybe your ceiling is vibrating with the throbbing music your upstairs neighbors are playing. To throb is to pulsate, and experts guess the word itself stems from the sound and feeling of pulsating blood.
Vocabulary lists containing throbbing
Kindred
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"The War Works Hard" by Dunya Mikhail
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Neighborhood Odes
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
That moment came in 2008, with a crash and a long, throbbing hangover.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
So what to do about your underwhelming past lovers, your Pisces Venusian yearning, your throbbing heart, your efforts to prepare yourself to love from the most whole place you possibly can?
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026
A couple of years ago, a falling durian landed on his shoulder, leaving him with a throbbing pain that acts up now and then.
From BBC ● Jan. 10, 2026
When the aircraft parked and the doors opened, Harris said his head was throbbing, he felt confused and was struggling to string sentences together.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
Which is why, instead of giving into the god-awful throbbing pain in my right shoulder, I channel it—using the pain as a tool to sharpen my focus.
From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
Her eyes were full of tears of joy, and her heart almost bursting with the throbbings of delight, in the anticipation of again pressing her idolized child to her bosom.
From Madame Roland, Makers of History by John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot) Abbott
The beatings of our heart can be heard; but the ceaseless throbbings and throes of thought are unheard, as it changes from material to spiritual standpoints.
From The People's Idea of God Its Effect On Health And Christianity by Mary Baker Eddy
And her heart leaps suddenly; its tumultuous throbbings nearly suffocate her.
From Dangerous Ground or, The Rival Detectives by Lawrence L. Lynch
The strength that had sustained me through my narrative was fleeting fast, and my heart had resumed its painful throbbings, as he stood before me and took my hand.
From Friends I Have Made by George Manville Fenn
It came over the fondest throbbings of my soul like the echo of a funeral bell, for ever pealing its sepulchral boom through the music of bridal joy.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 4 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
