throw out

verb

threw out; thrown out; throwing out; throws out

transitive verb

1

a

: to remove from a place, office, or employment usually in a sudden or unexpected manner

b

: to get rid of as worthless or unnecessary

2

: to give expression to : utter

threw out a remark … that utterly confounded him

—Jean Stafford

3

: to dismiss from acceptance or consideration : reject

the testimony was thrown out

4

: to make visible or manifest : display

the signal was thrown out for the … fleet to prepare for action

—Archibald Duncan

5

: to leave behind : outdistance

6

: to give forth from within : emit

7

a

: to send out

b

: to cause to project : extend

8

: confuse, disconcert

automobiles in line blocking the road … threw the whole schedule out

—F. D. Roosevelt

9

: to cause to stand out : make prominent

10

: to make a throw that enables a teammate to put out (a base runner)

Phrases

throw out the baby with the bathwater

: to discard or lose something useful or beneficial in the process of discarding or rejecting something unwanted

Synonyms

• banish
• boot (out)
• bounce
• cast out
• chase
• dismiss
• drum (out)
• eject
• expel
• extrude
• kick out
• oust
• out
• rout
• run off
• turf (out) [chiefly British]
• turn out

Examples of throw out in a Sentence

the player was thrown out of the game after assaulting the ref

would you mind if I threw out that leftover pizza that's been in the fridge for two weeks?

Recent Examples on the Web

The 5-to-4 vote threw out a lower court's ruling to temporarily stop the deportations under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. —Brittney Melton, NPR, 8 Apr. 2025

Read's defense keeps adding new players, and her lawyers recently petitioned the Supreme Court to throw out two of the three charges against her. —Michael Ruiz, FOXNews.com, 8 Apr. 2025

Yastrzemski, the Hall of Famer, was in the house on Friday and threw out what may be the shortest first pitch in history, a five-foot toss to Sox manager Alex Cora. —Steve Buckley, New York Times, 5 Apr. 2025

The rifle-armed Torrens also threw out runners with surprising regularity. —Dan Schlossberg, Forbes.com, 5 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for throw out

• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout
• checkout
• closeout
• cutout
• devout
• dropout

Kids Definition

throw out

verb

1

: to reject or get rid of as worthless or unnecessary : throw away

2

: to remove from a place, position, or participation