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to throw away

to throw away

477 1.8
To get rid of something you do not want, for example by putting it in the bin
  • phrasal verb
  • /θroʊ əˈweɪ/
translation icon : tirar
  • So I'm having to actually throw all of them away because I can't trust him.
  • throw away the food
  • throw away the key
  • simply throw away

Those would be these points up here, throw away duplicates.

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Examples

  • We believe too much food gets thrown away, so we reclaim that food before it can go to waste.

  • I had no idea what use they would be, and so I decided to throw them away.

    Academic text (2015)
  • You want to keep this part and throw away that part, right?

  • I cannot throw all of that away just for you.

  • First, it requires many decisions about what to throw away and what to keep.

    Academic text (1996)
  • OK, throw them away and then give me the liquid.

  • Just return them or throw them away and get your refund.

  • And I went ahead and just threw away a bunch of the products I had.

  • Don't throw away what you found here.

  • Before the spring cleaning, I decided to throw away all the clothes I no longer wore.

Synonyms

to get rid of
vsto throw away
1.6

To remove or throw away something you do not want

is mainly about discarding items rather than broader elimination
to dump
vsto throw away
541 2.6

To drop or throw things away in a careless way

is normal removal without implying carelessness
to toss
vsto throw away
348 1.0

To throw something lightly to another person

is about removing unwanted items not light physical motion
to throw out
vsto throw away
202 1.8

To put something in the trash because you do not want it

is the general action of getting rid of unwanted things
to dispose
vsto throw away
149 3.4

Get rid of something by throwing it away, selling it, or giving it to someone

is focused on discarding rather than selling or giving
to shed
vsto throw away
131 3.5

To get rid of something you do not need

is a single act of discarding not gradual loss
to discard
vsto throw away
130 2.7

To throw something away because you no longer want or need it

is the basic act of getting rid without extra detail
to toss out
vsto throw away
39 2.7

To throw away things you do not want

is the general action of getting rid not focused on casual manner
to trash
vsto throw away
  • US
34 1.0

To throw away something you no longer want

is the general removal action not focused on waste
to scrap
vsto throw away
30 3.7

To throw away something that is no longer useful

is removal of items whole not focused on breaking them up
to junk
vsto throw away
13 3.0

To throw away things that are no longer useful

is the general removal without judging usefulness
to cast aside
vsto throw away
  • Informal
11 3.7

Reject or ignore people and things you no longer want

is about physical removal of items rather than rejection
to kick to the curb
vsto throw away
  • Informal
7 8.6

Get rid of someone or something you no longer want

is neutral removal of unwanted items not mainly rejecting people
to toss away
vsto throw away
5 2.0

To throw something away because you no longer want or need it

is the usual act of removing items not focused on manner
to cast away
vsto throw away
4 4.1

To throw away things you no longer want

is the common action of removing items without implying permanence
to cast off
vsto throw away
3 4.8

To get rid of something you do not want or need

is the routine act of getting rid not about separation
to chuck out
vsto throw away
  • UK
1 3.7

To throw away things you do not want

is the standard act of removing unwanted items not stressing speed
to throw overboard
vsto throw away
1 6.0

To reject or get rid of something no longer needed

is regular discarding of items not necessarily explicit rejection
to deep six
vsto throw away
  • Informal
1 8.6

To get rid of something permanently

is a routine removal action not stressing deliberate abandonment
to give it the deep six
vsto throw away
  • Informal
9.9

To throw something away and stop using it

is the general act of getting rid not stressing total permanence

Antonyms

1.0

To store something for later use

1.0

Keep something for use later

How Permanent

to incinerate
33 7.1
to destroy
1.0
to throw away
477 1.8
to put aside
24 2.4

Surface Forms

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

Morphology

throw + away

The meaning 'to get rid of by discarding' is directly derivable from 'throw' (propel) combined with 'away' (to another place or out of reach); the particle 'away' signals removal, so the composite meaning is a straightforward extension of the constituents. This motion + away pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows normal English phrasal-verb composition, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the sense.

Etymology

The phrase throw away comes from the simple image of using your arm to throw an unwanted object away into the rubbish or garbage. So it now means 'to get rid of' something you no longer want.