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Glite Dictionary
to throw someone a kiss

to throw someone a kiss

1 3.5
Kiss your hand and blow the kiss toward someone
  • phrasal verb
  • /θroʊ ˈsʌmwʌn ə kɪs/
: lanzar un beso
  • Jezzie throws him a kiss goodbye and hurries out the door. # Jacob #

Examples

  • The crowd cheered crazily as Gallant threw a kiss to Fangs in response.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Now throw a kiss and say bye-bye.

    Young Frankenstein (1974)

  • She threw back a kiss.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • (She throws him a kiss; it's grotesque.)

    Fiction book (1990)

  • She turns to the announcer's booth and throws Theodore a kiss.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • As he boarded the train, she threw him a kiss to say goodbye.

  • At the end of her performance, the singer threw the audience a kiss.

  • With a smile, she turned and threw her friend a kiss before leaving.

Synonyms

to blow a kiss
vsto throw someone a kiss
3 2.7

To touch your lips with one hand then move that hand toward someone to show love

has identical meaning but uses a different phrase to express it

Antonyms

to ignore
∞ 1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

to turn away
94 2.3

Move your body so you do not face someone or something

How Affectionate

to kiss
∞ 1.0
to throw someone a kiss
1 3.5
to smile
∞ 1.0
wave
127 1.0

Surface Forms

throw someone a kiss infinitive
threw someone a kiss past
thrown someone a kiss past participle
throwing someone a kiss present participle
throws someone a kiss third person singular

Morphology

throw + someone + a + kiss

The meaning is directly derivable from the constituents: here 'throw' can mean 'send' (as noted) and 'kiss' is an affectionate act, so 'throw someone a kiss' maps transparently to 'send a kiss' or make a kissing gesture toward someone. This construction follows a common ditransitive pattern and has clear cross-linguistic parallels (e.g. 'send/blow a kiss'), so a B1 learner who knows the words would readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Throw someone a kiss comes from the simple act of kissing your hand and then throwing that kiss by blowing it toward a person, as if you send something through the air. That's why it means 'to show affection' or 'to send a loving greeting' from a distance.