throe

1 a sharp unpleasant sensation usually felt in some specific part of the body collapsed in the throes of agony Synonyms ache, pang, prick, shoot, smart, sting, stitch, pain, tingle, twingeRelated Words discomfort, distress, soreness, tenderness; affliction, agony, anguish, misery, sufferance, suffering, torment, torture; inflammation, sore, swelling; damage, detriment, harm, hurt, injury; backache, bellyache, charley horse, colic, complaint, earache, gripe, headache, stomachache, toothacheNear Antonyms comfort, ease, easiness

2 throes pl  a forceful effort to reach a goal or objective that third-world country is caught up in the throes of a democratic revolution Synonyms battle, fight, fray, scrabble, throesRelated Words effort, exertion, labor, pains, trouble, work; drudgery, grind, sweat, toil, travail; combat, conflict, contest, strife, tussle, war, warfare; attempt, endeavor, essay, try