Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🚷 To expel 🗑️ To discard 🚫 To reject
to throw out

to throw out

236 3.0
To force someone to leave a place, job, or group
  • phrasal verb
  • /θroʊ aʊt/
translation icon : expulsar
  • Get out, before I have you thrown out.
  • thrown out of the house
  • thrown out of office

It's because they threw out my dad.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • Then, a little later, he would throw the visitor out of the house.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • When I didn't get the chickens, he threw me out of the house.

    Find Me Guilty (2006)

  • You can either clear out or l can throw you out.

    The Postman (1997)

  • It's because they threw out my dad.

    The Official Steve Harvey

  • And so he just threw us out of his office, basically.

  • Brian, at 15, had been thrown out of the house by his mother.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Don't try to come back, or I'll throw you out again.

    Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

  • Lucy has thrown Todd's stuff out and has been denying access to their kid.

  • Then his wife cursed me, kicked me, threw me out, and demanded another to take my place.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • If you don't follow the rules, I will have to throw out your application.

Synonyms

to remove
vsto throw out
∞ 1.5

To move something or someone away from a place

is specifically about making people leave jobs or positions
to get rid of
vsto throw out
∞ 1.6

To remove or throw away something you do not want

is focused on removing from a place, position, or job
to take out
vsto throw out
948 1.9

To remove something from a place or container

is broader and also includes removing from jobs or positions
to let go
vsto throw out
852 3.8

To stop employing someone so they lose their job

is a neutral removal that can be harsher or more forceful
to kick out
vsto throw out
512 3.0

Force someone to leave a place or group

is broader and includes formal dismissal from employment
to eliminate
vsto throw out
354 3.4

Remove someone or something from a competition so they are no longer in it

is focused on taking people out of jobs or positions directly
to expel
vsto throw out
194 5.0

Force someone to leave a place, such as a school or country, often by official order

is removal from jobs or positions rather than legal exile
to terminate
vsto throw out
  • Formal
90 5.5

To make someone stop working for a company

is a general removal from a place, position, or job
to oust
vsto throw out
80 6.2

To remove someone from power, often suddenly or by force

is removal from any place, position, or job not only power posts
to dismiss
vsto throw out
70 3.3

To remove someone from their job

is a more general term for removing someone from place or job
to force out
vsto throw out
46 4.4

To make someone leave a job by pressure or threats

is a neutral removal that does not require pressure or threats
to send away
vsto throw out
43 3.0

Make someone leave a job or group because of a problem

is a general removal that also covers physical expulsion
to sack
vsto throw out
  • UK
37 3.5

To make someone leave their job

is broader and can mean removing from places as well
to weed out
vsto throw out
37 3.8

To remove unwanted people or things from a group

is about single-person removal without selection or filtering
to eject
vsto throw out
32 4.2

Force someone to leave a place

is often used for job or position removal not only physical ejection
to cast out
vsto throw out
31 6.2

Force someone to leave a group or place because others reject them

is a neutral removal that need not show social rejection
to boot out
vsto throw out
  • Informal
15 5.8

Force someone to leave a job or organization suddenly

is a general removal phrase that can be formal or informal
to give (someone) the boot
vsto throw out
  • Informal
12 7.4

To stop someone from working at their job, usually because of bad work or behavior

is the plain, neutral way to mean making someone leave
to drum out
vsto throw out
7 7.4

Make someone leave a group or job in a public, shameful way

is general removal but without public shaming or ritual expulsion
to kick to the curb
vsto throw out
  • Informal
7 8.6

Get rid of someone or something you no longer want

is the act of removing someone from places, positions, or jobs
to send someone packing
vsto throw out
  • Informal
4 7.9

Make someone leave quickly and forcefully

is a neutral removal that may be less abrupt or forceful
to turf out
vsto throw out
  • UK
1 8.2

Force someone to leave a place or job

is also used for removing from jobs or positions, not only places
to give (someone) the sack
vsto throw out
  • UK
1 5.2

To make someone leave their job, often as punishment or during job cuts

is a general removal phrase, not the exact dismissal message
to chuck out
vsto throw out
  • UK
1 5.0

To force someone to leave a place usually because they cause trouble

is mainly used for removing people from jobs or positions
to disenroll
vsto throw out
  • US
1 6.8

To stop being signed up for a course, program, or school

is aimed at removal from jobs or places rather than courses
to sack someone
vsto throw out
  • UK
4.8

To stop employing someone, often suddenly as punishment

is a neutral act of removal not necessarily abrupt or punitive
to give the sack
vsto throw out
  • UK
5.9

To tell someone they must leave their job

is formal or neutral language for removing someone from positions

Antonyms

to employ
350 2.4

To give someone work and pay them for it

to retain
236 3.4

To keep having something such as a job or possession

How Expelled

to banish
107 6.3
to expel
194 5.0
to throw out
236 3.0
to sack
  • UK
37 3.5
to usher out
3 5.1

Surface Forms

throw out infinitive
throwing out present participle
throws out third person singular
threw out past
thrown out past participle

Morphology

throw + out

The meaning 'to remove or expel' is directly derivable from combining 'throw' (send/propel) with 'out' (away/outside): together they convey sending someone or something away. The extension to dismissing from a job or position is a predictable metaphorical use of that physical sense and is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would likely infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

The phrasal verb throw out may come from the image of a bouncer grabbing someone and sending them out the door — literally throwing them out. That's why it means 'to remove' or 'expel' someone from a place or job.