throw up
Britishverb
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to give up; abandon, relinquish
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to build or construct hastily
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to reveal; produce
every generation throws up its own leaders
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informal (also intr) to vomit
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Vomit, as in The new drug makes many patients throw up . [First half of 1700s]
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Abandon, relinquish, as in After the results of the poll came in, she threw up her campaign for the Senate .
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Construct hurriedly, as in The builder threw up three houses in a matter of a few months . [Late 1500s]
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throw it up to . Criticize, upbraid, as in Dad was always throwing it up to the boys that they were careless and messy . [Early 1800s]
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.
"It's so bad. Like, if you saw a human skull in this way, you'd throw up."
From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2026
Second marriages often throw up these kinds of financial dilemmas for blended families.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 7, 2026
Yet, “Pretty Lethal” is packed with run-don’t-walk folly that demands to be seen to be believed — if only to throw up your hands and say, “I guess!”
From Salon • Mar. 29, 2026
Many of the top teams in college basketball throw up triples at astronomical rates, taking well over half their shots from behind the arc in pursuit of gamebreaking runs.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 29, 2026
“Cool,” I say, “I just have to go throw up real quick.”
From "Sparrow" by Sarah Moon
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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.