throb
[throb]
- to beat with increased force or rapidity, as the heart under the influence of emotion or excitement; palpitate.
- to feel or exhibit emotion: He throbbed at the happy thought.
- to pulsate; vibrate: The cello throbbed.
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- the act of throbbing.
- a violent beat or pulsation, as of the heart.
- any pulsation or vibration: the throb of engines.
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Origin of throb
1325–75; Middle English *throbben, implied in present participle throbbant throbbing < ?
Synonym study
3. See pulsate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for throbbing
Contemporary Examples
As my injured leg improves, my left leg starts aching, then throbbing, near my hip.
“The room would just be throbbing,” actress Anjelica Huston recalled to NPR.
Usually I am completely unaware of my eyeballs, and yet right now, they are throbbing?
Historically, migraines were labeled a hysterical female condition, characterized by throbbing, one-sided, nauseating pain.
Why Everything from Frigid Temperatures to Lightning Can Induce MigrainesCaitlin Dickson
January 8, 2014
From my neck to my temples, there is a throbbing soreness on both sides of my face, all radiating from the hinge of my jawbone.
Historical Examples
I laughed out of sheer inanity; every pulse in my body was throbbing.
The Bacillus of BeautyHarriet Stark
His heart no longer thumped—it was throbbing in a tired, listless fashion.
Chip, of the Flying UB. M. Bower
Tip's heart was throbbing with pleasure as he walked on home after Ellis had left him.
Throbbing with a grateful, craving allegiance, I seized the rein.
The CavalierGeorge Washington Cable
Muffled, slow, grand and mournful, it went wailing and throbbing by.
The First ViolinJessie Fothergill
throb
- to pulsate or beat repeatedly, esp with increased forceto throb with pain
- (of engines, drums, etc) to have a strong rhythmic vibration or beat
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- the act or an instance of throbbing, esp a rapid pulsation as of the hearta throb of pleasure
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Word Origin
C14: perhaps of imitative origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for throbbing
throb
v.
mid-14c., of uncertain origin, perhaps meant to represent in sound the pulsation of arteries and veins or the heart. Related: Throbbed; throbbing. The noun is first attested 1570s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
throb
(thrŏb)- To beat rapidly or perceptibly, such as occurs in the heart or a constricted blood vessel.
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- A strong or rapid beat; a pulsation.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.