throw down

See also: throwdown and throw-down

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Source needed for the claim of Jay Johnson as first user.”)

US, popularized 1970s in street culture, from idiom throw down the gauntlet (“to issue a challenge”), used in sense “to fight, to incite a fight, to make a stand” or otherwise get about partying with abandon (first used by Jay Johnson in Detroit in 1978 - taken nationally by Cecil Franklin, manager/brother of Aretha Franklin).

Sense of “accomplish something respectable” evolved from sense “to make a stand, to exhibit, to demonstrate (in a challenging way)” inherent in the fighting sense.

Sense of “to make a contribution” likely influenced by sense “to make a stand”, as in “are you in?”, “will you stand up and contribute?”

Pronunciation

Audio (General Australian): (file)

Verb

throw down (third-person singular simple present throws down, present participle throwing down, simple past threw down, past participle thrown down)

(transitive) To cause something one is holding to drop, often forcefully.
Synonyms: cast down, cast aside, throw aside

The soldiers threw down their weapons and surrendered.
(transitive, dated) To destroy or demolish.
to throw down a tower
(slang, idiomatic, transitive) To produce or perform (something) admirably or forcefully.
- 2001, Dave Thompson, Funk, back cover:
  ...this guide tracks the artists and recordings that throw down the funk!
- 2004, Kylie Adams, Ex-Girlfriends‎^[1], page 48:
  “Punch up the rhymes. Throw down some beats. Show off that body. You'll be unstoppable.”
(slang, idiomatic, intransitive, by extension) To accomplish or produce something in a grand, respectable, or successful manner; to "represent".
- 1997, Richard C. Green, Soul: Black Power, Politics, and Pleasure‎^[2], page 93:
  Yeah, they could literally throw down. When their sound came out, it was earth-shaking.
- 1998, Sheila Copeland, Chocolate Star‎^[3], page 260:
  “You're performing for the who's who of radio and records at the Soul Train Awards tonight and you've got to throw down”.
(slang, idiomatic, intransitive) To drink a large amount quickly.
"We need to finish these five pitchers in half an hour, so throw down as fast as you can!"
(slang, idiomatic, intransitive) To fight; to make a stand.
- 2002, Lory Janelle Dance, Tough Fronts: The Impact of Street Culture on Schooling‎^[4], page 60:
  Let's you and me 'throw down' right here, right now!
- 2004, William Bowers, “I Think I'm Going to Hell”, in Da Capo Best Music Writing 2004, page 41:
  When someone near me at a show called the band My Boring Racket, I was ready to throw down, but for the good sense of an accompanying female...
- 2004, bell hooks, We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity‎^[5], page 59:
  Today's young and hip black male who fancies himself a radical, who is ready to throw down for the cause, is not talking about neo-colonialism, about global struggle.
- 2006, Erick S. Gray, Nasty Girls: An Urban Novel‎^[6], page 32:
  She said no words and was the first to throw down. She stepped up to Dee, and pow!
- 2006, Sherman D. Manning, Blue-Eyed Blonde‎^[7], page 345:
  The time has come. I'm ready to take action. I wanna kick ass and take names later. I wanna throw down, baby boy and baby girl.
(slang, idiomatic, intransitive) To make an individual contribution to a group effort (e.g. money pool, collaborative record album).
"We're goin' in on a pizza; you in?" "Yeah, I'll throw down."

cause something to drop forcefully

Esperanto: terĵeti

Related terms

Anagrams

downthrow