as in throwing
to cause to fall intentionally or unintentionally
throw down the gun, and put your hands up
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Recent Examples of throwing down
That’s a player throwing down the gauntlet to everybody else’.
—
George Caulkin, New York Times, 16 May 2026
James wasn’t done, taking a pass from Jake LaRavia and throwing down another dunk later in the second quarter that brought the crowd out of its seats.
—Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2026
Jaxson Hayes delivered the final body blow, throwing down an Eastbay dunk in transition after stealing the ball from Josh Giddey to put the Lakers up by 14 with just under three minutes remaining.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 27 Jan. 2026
The panel all picked up what the show was throwing down with the rapper clues.
—Jillian Sederholm, Entertainment Weekly, 22 Jan. 2026
Two years ago, Sukeban exploded onto the scene with fighters in latex, corsets and bomber jackets, throwing down with full makeup, wigs and acrylic nail art.
—Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 18 Dec. 2025
The 22-year-old scored a career-high 21 points while shooting 8-for-12, hitting three 3-pointers and throwing down four acrobatic dunks — including a pair of transition lobs from Brown and Derrick White, and a third-quarter posterization of Marvin Bagley III.
—Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 6 Nov. 2025
Wearing a flowing purple muumuu, Monaleo gets to throwing down a soul food dinner for the whole family.
—Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 30 Oct. 2025
Hachimura finished with 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting, throwing down multiple alley-oops during a third quarter the Laker won 40-31.
—Khobi Price, Oc Register, 25 Oct. 2025
George Caulkin, New York Times, 16 May 2026
James wasn’t done, taking a pass from Jake LaRavia and throwing down another dunk later in the second quarter that brought the crowd out of its seats.
—Broderick Turner, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2026
Jaxson Hayes delivered the final body blow, throwing down an Eastbay dunk in transition after stealing the ball from Josh Giddey to put the Lakers up by 14 with just under three minutes remaining.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 27 Jan. 2026
The panel all picked up what the show was throwing down with the rapper clues.
—Jillian Sederholm, Entertainment Weekly, 22 Jan. 2026
Two years ago, Sukeban exploded onto the scene with fighters in latex, corsets and bomber jackets, throwing down with full makeup, wigs and acrylic nail art.
—Jacqui Palumbo, CNN Money, 18 Dec. 2025
The 22-year-old scored a career-high 21 points while shooting 8-for-12, hitting three 3-pointers and throwing down four acrobatic dunks — including a pair of transition lobs from Brown and Derrick White, and a third-quarter posterization of Marvin Bagley III.
—Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 6 Nov. 2025
Wearing a flowing purple muumuu, Monaleo gets to throwing down a soul food dinner for the whole family.
—Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 30 Oct. 2025
Hachimura finished with 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting, throwing down multiple alley-oops during a third quarter the Laker won 40-31.
—Khobi Price, Oc Register, 25 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for throwing down
Verb
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Two nights after throwing 21 pitches over 1⅔ innings, Johnson threw 124 pitches over 7⅓ strong innings to beat the host Aggies (41-14) before a crowd of 6,934.—
Jose de Jesus Ortiz,
Los Angeles Times,
1 June 2026
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Houser grinded through a pair of long innings that ate into his pitch count, throwing 37 pitches in the first inning and 27 more pitches in the third inning.—
Justice delos Santos,
Mercury News,
31 May 2026
Verb
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As a musician, Holloway’s voice is inseparable from his identity and livelihood, and going on testosterone — which causes the vocal folds to thicken and lengthen, lowering pitch, while also enlarging the larynx — terrified him.—
Leslie Katz,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
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Eco mode works by lowering the water temperature and using less water overall during the cycle.—
Jessica Safavimehr,
Southern Living,
28 May 2026
Verb
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His perfect parade was broken up by an error in the fourth inning when miscommunication between Andy Pages and Kyle Tucker led to Trea Turner’s fly ball glancing off Tucker’s glove and dropping to the warning track uncaught.—
Bill Plunkett,
Oc Register,
30 May 2026
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As vehicles drive by on a nearby road, he can be seen dropping to the ground.—
Tim Stelloh,
NBC news,
30 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Throwing down.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/throwing%20down. Accessed 2 Jun. 2026.
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