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

• barf
• gag
• heave
• hurl
• puke
• retch
• spew
• spit up
• upchuck
• vomit

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

Some people will throw up roadblocks (including the U.S. Embassy). —Lisa Kennedy, Variety, 7 Mar. 2025

In a recent video shared from an Instagram account on Wednesday, March 5, Le Vaughn, 26, layed in his hospital bed and threw up some hand gestures before showing his heavily bandaged hand. —Russel Honoré, Newsweek, 5 Mar. 2025

One evening at dinner, a man rushed past me holding a child who threw up midair, splashing vomit on my shoes. —Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2025

The guy’s pivoting, pivoting, pivoting, throws his shoulder into him, throws up a shot and falls down. —Ryan Gaydos, Fox News, 23 Feb. 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