3 PHRASE If you clear your throat , you cough once in order to make it easier to speak or to attract people's attention. □ Cross cleared his throat and spoke in low, polite tones.
4 PHRASE If you ram something down someone's throat or force it down their throat , you keep mentioning a situation or idea in order to make them accept it or believe it. □ I've always been close to my dad but he's never rammed his career down my throat.
5 PHRASE If two people or groups are at each other's throats , they are quarrelling or fighting violently with each other. □ The idea that Billy and I are at each other's throats couldn't be further from the truth.
6 PHRASE If something sticks in your throat , you find it unacceptable. □ What sticks in my throat is that I wasn't able to win the trophy.
7 a lump in your throat → see lump
throaty /θroʊ ti/ ADJ A throaty voice or laugh is low and rather rough.
throb /θrɒ b/ (throbs , throbbing , throbbed )
1 VERB If part of your body throbs , you feel a series of strong and usually painful beats there. □ [V ] His head throbbed. ● N‑SING Throb is also a noun. □ The bruise on his stomach ached with a steady throb.
2 VERB If something throbs , it vibrates and makes a steady noise. [LITERARY ] □ [V ] The engines throbbed. ● N‑SING Throb is also a noun. □ [+ of ] Jake's head jerked up at the throb of the engine.
throes /θroʊ z/
1 N‑PLURAL If someone is experiencing something very unpleasant or emotionally painful, you can say that they are in the throes of it, especially when it is in its final stages. [FORMAL ] □ [+ of ] …when the country was going through the final throes of civil war.
2 PHRASE If you are in the throes of doing or experiencing something, especially something difficult, you are busy doing it or are deeply involved in it. [FORMAL ] □ [+ of ] The country is in the throes of a general election.
3 → see also death throes
throm|bo|sis /θrɒmboʊ s I s/ (thromboses /θrɒmboʊ siːz/)
1 N‑VAR Thrombosis is the formation of a blood clot in a person's heart or in one of their blood vessels, which can cause death. [MEDICAL ]
2 → see also coronary thrombosis , deep vein thrombosis
throne /θroʊ n/ (thrones )
1 N‑COUNT A throne is a decorative chair used by a king, queen, or emperor on important official occasions.
2 N‑SING You can talk about the throne as a way of referring to the position of being king, queen, or emperor. □ When Queen Victoria was on the throne, the horse was the main form of transport.
throng /θrɒ ŋ, [AM ] θrɔː ŋ/ (throngs , thronging , thronged )
1 N‑COUNT A throng is a large crowd of people. [LITERARY ] □ An official pushed through the throng.
2 VERB When people throng somewhere, they go there in great numbers. [LITERARY ] □ [V + to/into/around ] The crowds thronged into the mall.
3 VERB If people throng a place, they are present there in great numbers. □ [V n] They throng the beaches between late June and early August. ● thronged ADJ [v-link ADJ with n] □ [+ with ] The streets are thronged with people.
throt|tle /θrɒ t ə l/ (throttles , throttling , throttled )
1 VERB To throttle someone means to kill or injure them by squeezing their throat or tightening something around it and preventing them from breathing. □ [V n] The attacker then tried to throttle her with wire.
2 VERB If you say that something or someone is throttling a process, institution, or group, you mean that they are restricting it severely or destroying it. □ [V n] He said the over-valuation of sterling was throttling industry.
3 N‑COUNT The throttle of a motor vehicle or aircraft is the device, lever, or pedal that controls the quantity of fuel entering the engine and is used to control the vehicle's speed. □ He gently opened the throttle, and the ship began to ease forward.
4 N‑UNCOUNT Throttle is the power that is obtained by using a throttle. □ …motor bikes revving at full throttle.
5 PHRASE If you say that something is done at full throttle , you mean that it is done with great speed and enthusiasm. □ He lived his life at full throttle.
through ◆◆◆ The preposition is pronounced /θruː/. In other cases, through is pronounced /θruː / In addition to the uses shown below, through is used in phrasal verbs such as 'see through', 'think through', and 'win through'. 1 PREP To move through something such as a hole, opening, or pipe means to move directly from one side or end of it to the other. □ The theatre was evacuated when rain poured through the roof at the Liverpool Playhouse. □ Go straight through that door under the EXIT sign. □ Visitors enter through a side entrance. ● ADV [ADV after v] Through is also an adverb. □ He went straight through to the kitchen and took a can of cola from the fridge. □ She opened the door and stood back to allow the man to pass through.
2 PREP To cut through something means to cut it in two pieces or to make a hole in it. □ A fish knife is designed to cut through the flesh but not the bones. □ Some rabbits have even taken to gnawing through the metal. ● ADV [ADV after v] Through is also an adverb. □ Score deeper each time until the board is cut through.
3 PREP To go through a town, area, or country means to travel across it or in it. □ Go up to Ramsgate, cross into France, go through Andorra and into Spain. □ …travelling through pathless woods. ● ADV [ADV after v] Through is also an adverb. □ Few know that the tribe was just passing through.