throw up

verb

threw up; thrown up; throwing up; throws up

intransitive verb

: vomit

transitive verb

1

: vomit

2

: to raise quickly

3

: to build hurriedly

new houses thrown up almost overnight

4

: give up, quit

the urge … to throw up all intellectual work

—Norman Mailer

5

: to bring forth : produce

6

: to make distinct especially by contrast : cause to stand out

7

: to mention repeatedly by way of reproach

Phrases

throw up one's hands

: to admit defeat

in the end throws up his hands in despair

—Frank Conroy

Synonyms

• vomit
• hurl

Examples of throw up in a Sentence

she must have eaten something that didn't agree with her because she threw up right after dinner

when the townspeople realized that the President's motorcade would be coming through on its way to the conference, they threw up a hasty “Welcome” sign

Recent Examples on the Web

While some tech giants are throwing up temporary structures to move faster — Meta is building under giant tents in Ohio — Amazon took a more deliberate path. —Mackenzie Sigalos, CNBC, 29 Oct. 2025

As the story goes, Young threw up three separate times in his first workout. —Kansas City Star, 22 Oct. 2025

Makai was then breathing normally and laughing, but proceeded to throw up again, Rodriguez said. —Megan Forrester, ABC News, 22 Oct. 2025

This was the exact type of game that must leave USC fans throwing up their hands over Lincoln Riley. —Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 19 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 2

Rhymes for throw up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup

Kids Definition

throw up

verb

1

: to build or raise hurriedly or quickly

threw up the window

2

: to give up : quit

just wanted to throw the whole thing up

3

: vomit entry 2 sense 1

Medical Definition

throw up

intransitive verb

ˌthrō-ˈəp 

: vomit