▪ I. throat, n.
(θrəʊt)
Forms: 1 ð-, þrote, þrotu, 2–5 þ-, 2–7 throte, (3 þorte), 4– 9 (mainly Sc.) throt, 5–6 (8 Naut.) thrott, (5 troht, 5–6 throthe, Sc. throit), 6–7 throate, 6– throat.
[OE. þrote, -u, wk. fem., = OHG. droȥȥa wk. f., MHG. droȥȥe wk. f. or m. (whence mod.Ger. drossel wk. f., throat, throttle); app. from OTeut. root *þrut-, Indo-Eur. *trud-: cf. OE. þr{uacu}tian to swell, þr{uacu}tung swelling, ON. þr{uacu}tna to swell, þr{uacu}tinn swollen, þroti a swelling; the name may have had reference to the external appearance of the throat. Beside this an OTeut. *strut- is evidenced by OLG. strota wk. f., throat (MLG., LG. strotte, MDu. strote, Du. strot throat); cf. OFris. strotbolla, beside OE. þrotbolla, throat-boll; also MHG. stroȥȥe wk. f. (whence It. strozza throat). The original relations between the stems þrut- and strut- are not determined, but both may have had the sense ‘thrust out, project, swell’.]
I. The part of the body.
1. The front of the neck beneath the chin and above the collar-bones, containing the passages from the mouth and nose to the lungs and stomach. Also the corresponding part in vertebrates generally, and sometimes the analogous part in insects, etc.
(As ‘round the neck’ necessarily includes ‘round the throat’, ‘throat’ is sometimes said with the wider sense of the ‘neck’: cf. quot. 13..2.)
| a 700, etc. [implied in throat-boll]. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 250 Iudas..hine sylfne aheng sona mid grine, and rihtlice ᵹewrað ða forwyrhtan ðrotan. a 1154 O.E. Chron. an. 1137, Me..diden an scærp iren abuton þa mannes throte. c 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 16/525 In þe þrote with a swerd he smot þe suete rode. 13.. K. Alis. 5952 He ne had noiþere nekke ne þrote His heued was in his body yshote. 13.. Sir Beues (A.) 218 Þow schelt ben hanged be þe þrote. 1340 Ayenb. 14 Þet bodi of þe beste wes ase lipard, þe uet weren of bere, þe þrote of lioun. a 1450 Myrc Festial 79 By ryght dome, þat þrote þat spake þe wordes of traytery aȝeynys his Lord, þat þrote was ystrangled wyth þe grynne of a rope. 1553 Eden Treat. Newe Ind. (Arb.) 15 [The Elephant] his mouth is vnder his throte. 1573 Satir. Poems Reform. xxxix. 142 Thay schot gude Manfrild in athort the throit. 1741 Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 84 His throat sticking out like a wen. 1826 Kirby & Sp. Entomol. III. 367 External Anatomy of Insects... 2. Jugulum (the Throat). That part of the subface that lies between the temples. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xxii. 156 The cold smote my naked throat bitterly. 1878 L. Villari Machiavelli (1898) I. iii. viii. 143 Her throat is well turned but seems to me somewhat thin. |
2. a. The passage in the anterior part of the neck, leading from the mouth and nose to the gullet and windpipe; also, either of these passages considered separately.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxii. §1 He is swiðe biter on muðe, & he þe tirð on ða þrotan. c 1000 ælfric Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 157/41 Guttur, þrotu. c 1220 Bestiary 507 in O.E. Misc. 16 Vt of his ðrote it [whale] smit an onde, Ðe swetteste ðing ðat is o londe. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xx. (Blasius) 344 Quha-sa-euire in þare throt seknes has. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxiv. (Bodl. MS.) The þrote is þe pipes of þe lunges..Þe substaunce of þis pipe is grustely and hard. c 1425 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 635/17 Nomina membrorum... Hec gula, troht. c 1475 Pict. Voc. ibid. 748/13 Hec gula, Hoc guttur, Hic jugulus, a throthe. 1527 Andrew Brunswyke's Distyll. Waters A iij b, The same water.. gargoled in the throte..withdryueth the payne of the throte. 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. iii. Wks. 1856 I. 31 Thou..choakst their throts with dust. 1769 Cook Voy. round World i. v. (1773) 56 A sound exactly like that which we make to clear the throat when any thing happens to obstruct it. 1897 ‘Tivoli’ (H. W. Bleakley) Short Innings v. 76 A huge piece of cake went down the wrong throat, and Carrots had to belabour him lustily to persuade it to take the right direction. |
b. A sore throat.
colloq.| 1885 A. Edwardes Girton Girl I. iii. 68 That reasonless creature..has one of her throats again, and I did so want her to take some of my globules. 1915 Ld. Fisher Let. 2 Apr. in M. Gilbert Winston S. Churchill (1972) III. Compan. i. 764, I thought I had a throat coming on but drastic measures have relieved it. 1979 M. Soames Clementine Churchill xiii. 201 In the last year she had been subject to ‘throats’ and coughs. |
3. This part with its passages, considered in various capacities, whence various expressions.
a. Viewed as the entrance to the stomach; hence in figurative expressions, as
(to fill, full) up to the throat, to the limit of capacity;
to pour (also send) down the throat, to waste or squander (property or money) in eating and drinking;
to cram, ram, thrust down one's throat, to force (an opinion or the like) upon one's acceptance;
to jump down one's throat,
† (
a) to be excessively attentive to one; also, to accept one with alacrity as prospective husband (
obs.); (
b) to reprimand or contradict one fiercely.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 216 Ȝif þe gulchecuppe weallinde bres to drincken, & ȝeot in his wide þrote. 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 677 Bacus þe bollere..Ȝe callen him kepere of þe þrote. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxvi. 65 Ay as thay tomit thame of schot, Ffyendis fild thame new vp to the thrott. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. ii. v. 36 The Gold I giue thee, will I melt and powr Downe thy ill vttering throate. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 543 Who..delight to send their estates downe the throat. 1724 Ramsay Vision viii, Quha rammed, and crammed, That bargin down thair throts. 1829 Fonblanque Eng. under Seven Administr. (1837) I. 232 Since the Duke of Wellington..thrust the Emancipation Bill down his [Geo. IV's] royal throat. 1861 Dickens Lett. 3 Dec., A place already full to the throat. 1871 Monthly Packet Sept. 287 The small boat held only three... ‘Just as well,’ Hugh said... ‘We don't want all to jump down her throat in a moment.’ 1879 Trollope Cousin Henry I. iii. 52 Was she to jump down your throat when you asked her? 1883 Mrs. Kennard Right Sort ix, I might have jumped down this gentleman's throat in my foolish admiration for his powers of equitation. 1916 E. F. Benson David Blaize xi. 215 He simply jumped down my throat the other day in your defence. 1940 ‘N. Blake’ Malice in Wonderland i. vii. 88 There's no need to jump down my throat. I was only trying to be helpful. |
b. Considered as containing the vocal organs; hence
transf. the voice.
† to lay, set out, (set up) a or one's throat, to raise one's voice;
† (to speak) with a full throat, (to speak) loudly; hence
fig. plainly, roundly;
at the top of one's throat, at the top of one's voice: see
top n.| a 1250 Owl & Night. 1721 Þe wrenne..hadde stefne small Heo hadde gode þrote [v.r. þorte] & schille. c 1369 Chaucer Dethe Blaunche 320 To fynde out of mery crafty notys They ne spared nat her throtes. a 1450 [see sense 1]. 1535 Coverdale Ps. cxiii. [cvx.] 7 Fete haue they, but they can not go, nether can they speake thorow their throte. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 110 Thay can pronunce na voce furth of thair throtis. 1600 Holland Livy vii. ix. 255 As lowd as ever he could set out a throate, maketh this challenge. 1686 tr. Chardin's Coronat. Solyman 94 These Women made such a noise..set up their throats as they did before. 1742 Gray Spring i, The Attic warbler pours her throat, Responsive to the cuckow's note. 1819 Scott Leg. Montrose xi, Men..talking Earse at the top of their throats. 1869 Ruskin Q. of Air §65 Into the throat of the bird is given the voice of the air. |
c. In the repudiation of a statement as false, in
phr. (to give, etc. one the lie) in († down) one's throat, regarded as the place of issue, to which the assertion is thrown back; also, with merely intensive force,
to lie in one's throat, to lie foully or infamously.
| 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. ii. i. 55 Till I haue..Thrust these reprochfull speeches downe his throat, That he hath breath'd in my dishonour heere. 1601 ― Twel. N. iii. iv. 172 Thou lyest in thy throat. 1602 ― Ham. ii. ii. 600 Who..giues me the Lye i'th' Throate, As deepe as to the Lungs? 1616 J. Lane Cont. Sqr.'s T. ix. 198 Gave him home the lie, adowne his throte. a 1648 Ld. Herbert Hen. VIII (1683) 227 We say unto you, that you have lyed in your throat. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. v. xx, He lyes most foully in his throat. 1824 Byron Let. to Murray Wks. (1846) 433/1 Whoever asserts that I am the author.., lies in his throat. |
d. Regarded as a vital part, and the most vulnerable point of attack;
esp. in the phrase
to cut the throat, to kill by this method; also
fig. Hence,
to cut one's own throat (with one's own knife), to be the means of one's own defeat or destruction;
to cut the throat of (a project, etc.), to defeat, destroy, put an end to: see
cut v. 47;
to cut one another's throats, to be desperately at variance, quarrel violently;
mod. colloq., to engage in ruinous competition (
cf. cutthroat 6,
quot. 1886); also
to have,
hold,
catch,
take by the throat (also
fig.),
† to pull out,
to fly at,
† start into (unto) one's throat;
to be at each other's throats, to quarrel violently;
to have (got) the game or it by the throat (
Austral. slang), to have the situation under control.
| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 423 Þes apes..done more harm to men þen þof þei cutted hor throtes. c 1385 Chaucer L.G.W. 1803 (Lucrece) That hast hire by the throte with a swerd at herte. a 1400–50 Alexander 1812 Þai suld titly þam take & by þe toȝe throtis, And for þaire souerayne sake þam send to þe galawis. c 1400 Brut 22 She come to here sone..wiþ ij knyfes, and þerwiþ cotte his þrote. 1583 Golding Calvin on Deut. lxxx. 490 They cut their own throtes with their own knife. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. ix. (S.T.S.) II. 197 Quha committis a sworde til an vnskilful persone, quhairwith, quhither he cut his awne throt, or hurt the cuntrie [etc.]. 1631 R. Byfield Doctr. Sabb. 111 That..cuts the throat of your solution. 1685 Dk. Buckhm. Reason. Relig. in Phenix (1708) II. 526 Perpetually quarrelling amongst themselves, and cutting one another's Throats. a 1722 Fountainhall Decis. (1759) I. 7 This interlocutor..knocked his cause..in the head, and cutted its throat. 1824, 1867 [see cut v. 47]. 1884 Rider Haggard Dawn xii, He had let him die; he had effectually and beyond redemption cut his own throat. a 1912 Mod. Ready to fly at each other's throats. 1947 J. Morrison Sailors belong Ships 15 We're sailors, see? Two sailors. We got the game by the throat. 1949 D. M. Davin Roads from Home i. i. 21 ‘The old fellow's gone at last.’ ‘You don't say.’ ‘Yes, and a hard fight he made of it, they say, with the sons hardly waiting for him to go before they were at one another's throats over who was to have his leavings.’ 1960 R. Tullipan Follow the Sun 105 ‘Think we'll get it done to-day?’ ‘Can't miss... We have it by the throat now all right.’ 1978 I. B. Singer Shosha 265 The women are at each other's throats. |
† 4. fig. The devouring capacity of any destructive agency, as death, war, etc.;
cf. jaw n.1 5,
maw n.1 1 b,
teeth.
Obs.| a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot (S.T.S.) I. 55 The maist walliezand men in the throt of the battell. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, v. iv. 5 He fights, Seeking for Richmond in the throat of death. 1730–46 Thomson Seasons, Autumn 937 Calm and intrepid in the very throat Of sulphurous war. |
II. Transferred senses.
5. A narrow passage,
esp. in or near the entrance of something; a narrow part in a passage.
| a 1584 Montgomerie Cherrie & Slae 1551 A prettie spring: Quhois throt, sir, I wot, sir, Ȝe may stap with ȝour neive. 1814 Scott Diary 17 Aug., in Lockhart, The access through this strait would be easy, were it not for the Island of Græmsay, lying in the very throat of the passage. 1823 Buckland Reliq. Diluv. 141 The throat of the cave, by which we ascend from the mouth to the interior. 1837 Emerson Address Amer. Schol. Wks. (Bohn) II. 186 One central fire, which flaming now out of the..throat of Vesuvius, illuminates the towers..of Naples. 1838 J. L. Stephens Trav. Russia 70/1 Field-pieces, whose throats once poured their iron hail against the walls within which they now repose as trophies. 1899 A. Griffiths in Fortn. Rev. LXV. 312 Lang's Nek, the throat of the passage into the Transvaal. |
6. spec. in technical use.
a. Archit.,
Building, etc.
† (
a) The narrowest part of the shaft of a column, immediately below the capital; the hypotrachelium. (
b) The neck of an outwork:
= gorge n.1 6. (
c) The part in a chimney, furnace, or furnace-arch immediately above the fire-place, which narrows down to the neck or ‘gathering’. (
d) A groove or channel on the under side of a coping or projecting moulding to keep the drip from reaching the wall.
| 1663 Gerbier Counsel 32 The Freese, Gul or Throat. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl., Throat, in architecture, fortification, &c., see Gorge, and Gula. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sc. & Art. I. 246 The throat is that part of the opening immediately above the fire, and contained between the mantle and the back. 1838 Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 364/1 The smoke..ascends vertically by the throat of the chimney into the flue. 1868 Joynson Metals 16 The opening at the top of the furnace, called the throat or trunnel-hole. 1895 Jrnl. Roy. Instit. Brit. Archit. 14 Mar. 351 If brick sills be used, see that they have a good, clean throat. |
b. Shipbuilding and
Naut. (
a) The hollow of the bend of a knee-timber. (
b) The outside curve of the jaws of a gaff; hence, the forward upper corner of a fore-and-aft sail; see also
quot. 1867. (
c) The amidships part of a floor-timber,
esp. if it bulges and then tapers into the kelson. (
d) The curve of the flukes of an anchor where they join the shank.
| 1711 W. Sutherland Shipbuild. Assist. 165 Throat, the inward bending of Knee-timber. 1776 Falconer Dict. Marine, Throat, a name given to the inner end of a gaff, or to that part which is next to the mast. It is opposed to peek, which implies the outer extremity of the said gaff. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 142 They must be deeper in the throat or at the cutting-down. Ibid. 155 Throat,..the midship part of the floor-timbers. c 1860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech., It is..bolted through the throat of each floor. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Throt, that part of the mizen-yard close to the mast. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 81 Hooked to a bolt in the throat of the gaff. |
c. Mech., etc. (
a) Of a plough: see
quot. 1807. (
b) In a threshing-machine, the passage from the feed-board to the threshing-cylinder (Knight
Dict. Mech. 1877). (
c) The opening in the stock of a plane, in which the iron is set, and through which the shavings
pass. (
d) A contracted part of a spoke near the hub (Knight). (
e) The angle between the running surface of a railway or tramcar wheel and its flange.
U.S. (
f) A tapered pipe connecting two tubes or sections of different diameters (
Cent. Dict., Suppl. 1909).
| 1807 A. Young Agric. Essex I. 132 The throat,..the space from the share point to the junction or approach of the breast to the beam. 1805 Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 4 The throat and breast, or that part which enters, perforates, and breaks up the ground. |
7. Bot. The throat-like opening of a gamopetalous corolla at which the tube and the petals unite.
| 1847 W. E. Steele Field Bot. 8 Florets all tubular, with an inflated throat, generally spreading into a hemispherical head. 1880 Gray Struct. Bot. vi. §5 (ed. 6) 246 The line, or sometimes a manifest or conspicuous portion, between the limb and the tube..is called the Throat, in Latin Faux, pl. fauces. 1882 Garden 28 Jan. 66/3 The throat of the flower is unbearded. |
8. attrib. and
Comb. a. attrib. ‘of, pertaining to, or affecting the throat’, as
throat-ache,
throat-disease,
throat-muscle,
throat-performer,
throat-roar, etc.; in sense 6 b (b), as
throat-bolt,
throat-brail,
throat cringle,
throat-downhaul,
throat halyard,
throat lashing (see these words, and
quots. here);
b. ‘that is on, around, or near the throat’, as
throat-bar,
throat button,
throat-cloth,
throat-feather,
throat-fringe,
throat-patch,
throat-wattle;
c. objective,
obj. genitive, locative, etc., as
throat-clearing n. and
adj.,
throat-catching,
throat-clutching,
throat-slitting;
throat-bursten,
throat-cracking,
throat-swollen adjs. d. Special combs.:
† throat-brisk, ? part of the brisket near the throat;
throat-chain, in whaling, a chain passed through the throat and tongue of the whale;
throat-clutch, a guttural catch or momentary closure;
throat-deafness, deafness caused by a diseased condition of the throat;
throat-flap, the epiglottis;
throat-full a., full to the throat, stuffed, crammed;
throat-jaws, jaw-like pharyngeal bones in the lower vertebrates;
throat-letter, a guttural;
throat-mane, a growth of hair on the front of an animal's neck;
throat microphone, (
colloq.)
mike, a microphone attached to a speaker's throat and actuated directly by his larynx;
throat-piece, (
a) in mediæval armour, a part of the helm protecting the throat; (
b) the neck of a racket, where the ends of the rim are brought together upon the handle (
Cent. Dict., Suppl. 1909);
throat-pipe, the windpipe; also, the steam supply pipe in a steam-engine;
throat-pit, a triangular depression at the front of the neck, between the collar-bones at the point where they articulate with the breastbone;
throat-plate, the forward exterior plate of a locomotive fire-box (
Cent. Dict., Suppl.);
throat-pouch, a gular sac in certain birds and animals;
throat-register, the lowest register of the voice;
throat-ring, Waldeyer's name for the circular group of lymphatic bodies surrounding the beginning of the respiratory tract;
throat-room, room for shouting;
throat-root, an American hairy species of Avens,
Geum virginianum;
throat-rupture, goitre;
throat-seizing,
Naut.: see
quot.;
throat-stopper, the epiglottis:
cf. throat-flap;
throat-strap = throat-latch;
throat-sweetbread, butcher's name for the thymus gland; also called
neck-sweetbread;
throat-thong = throat-latch;
throat-toggle, a toggle with which the
throat-chain is secured;
throat-vent, the opening in a coking-oven for the escape of smoke, etc.;
throat-wash, a medicinal gargle. See also
throat-band,
throat-boll, etc.
| 1898 J. Arch Story of Life x. 247 Head-aches and heart-aches and *throat-aches. |
| 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 180 Chuck-will's-widow..a whitish *throatbar. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Throat-bolts, eye-bolts fixed in the lower parts of the tops, and the jaw-ends of gaffs for hooking the throat-halliards to. |
| 1815 Burney Falconer's Dict. M., *Throat-Brails,..are those which are attached to the gaff close to the mast. |
| 1615 Chapman Odyss. iii. 620 Apart flew either thie: That with the fat they dubd with art alone; The *throte-briske, and the sweet-bread pricking on. |
| 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Miner's Right xxxiv, One button was missing between the upper or *throat button and the third. |
| 1958 Times Lit. Suppl. 1 Aug. 438/4 Everything about Happy Knoll that inspires such back-slapping, *throat-catching loyalty in its members. |
| 1811 L. M. Hawkins C'tess & Gertr. I. 78 A vast deal of *throat-clearing, face-stroking, and aukward hesitation. 1958 B. Hamilton Too Much of Water iv. 80 Tremendous expectorations and shattering throat-clearings. 1973 T. Pynchon Gravity's Rainbow i. 31 Relaxation, chairs squeaking, sighs and throatclearings. |
| 1871 Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. Dec. 2 He invariably wore a white *throat-cloth or neckerchief. |
| 1895 F. Osgood in Forum (N.Y.) June 507 Nerve-strain tends to the prevalence of the high vocal pitch and to the American fault—the *throat-clutch. |
| 1895 Outing (U.S.) XXVI. 47/1 To bend a mainsail, shackle the *throat cringle to the eyebolt under the jaws of the gaff [etc.]. |
| 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 778 Adult patients suffering since childhood from ‘*throat-deafness’. |
| Ibid. 750 The so-called ‘lithæmic diathesis’ is a much more frequent cause of *throat-disease than is generally believed. |
| 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., *Throat-down⁓hauls.., ropes for rousing down the throat of a gaff. |
| 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 162 Ravens, with *throat-feathers acute, lengthened, disconnected. |
| 1683 A. Snape Anat. Horse iv. x. (1686) 165 The Epiglottis or *Throat-flap, that covers the chink of the Larynx. |
| 1896 Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1 Dec. 932 The narrowness and banded coloration of the *throat-fringe must likewise be noted. |
| 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 475 To dine, or eat till he be *throat⁓full. a 1800 Cowper On Receipt of Hamper, A bottle green Throat-full. |
| 1762 Falconer Shipwr. ii. 389 The hallyards *thrott and peek are next apply'd. 1776 ― Dict. Marine s.v. Throat, The ropes employed to hoist up, and lower a gaff,..are called the throat or peek haliards. 1893 Pemberton Iron Pirate 39 There being..no hand either at the peak halyards or the throat halyards. |
| 1873 Mivart Lessons Elem. Anat. viii. §18. 318 Moving those ‘*throat-jaws’, the pharyngeal bones, which exist in so many of the lowest Vertebrate class. |
| 1893 Times 13 June 12/1 A *throat lashing of steel rope. |
| 1847 Proc. Philol. Soc. III. 116 A similar interchange between lip and *throat letters. |
| 1908 H. Johnston George Grenfell & Congo II. xxiv. 618 The larger, taller domestic sheep of East and South Africa..changes its *throat-mane into a dewlap. 1948 A. L. Rand Mammals Eastern Rockies 213 Mountain caribou... Neck greyish brown with a small white throat mane. |
| 1945 N. M. Cooke Electronics Dict. 391 *Throat microphone. 1972 K. Benton Spy in Chancery i. 13 He began to talk quietly through his throat microphone, which connected with a transmitter in his pocket. |
| 1965 P. O'Donnell Modest Blaise xvi. 170 The sensitive *throat-mike would pick up the vibration of his vocal chords and relay them. |
| 1875 Huxley & Martin Elem. Biol. (1877) 203 The *throat-muscles: through the broad thin muscle in front (mylo⁓hyoid) is seen the hypoglossal nerve. |
| 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 195 Young birds lack..the crimson *throat-patch. |
| 1776 Burney Hist. Mus. I. 340 The vociferous Stentor..the most illustrious *Throat-performer, or herald of antiquity. |
| 1869 Boutell Arms & Arm. v. (1874) 79 His helm is ornamented..; the *throat-piece has thunderbolts..in hammer work. |
| 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa iii. 185 The inhabitants of this region haue the balles of their *throat-pipes very great. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 29 She..stab'd her husband..in the face, thinking to strike him in the throat-pipes. 1824 R. Stuart Hist. Steam Engine 72 The regulator valve [the ‘throttle’], which opens or shuts the communication between the cylinder and boiler by the throat-pipe. |
| 1660 Albert Durer Revived 4 A straight perpendicular line from the *Throat-pit down. 1672 Sir T. Browne Let. Friend §10 Some are so curious as to observe the depth of the throat-pit. |
| 1871 Darwin Desc. Man ii. xii. II. 33 In the genus Sitana, the males alone are furnished with a large *throat-pouch. 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 18 Pelicans, cormorants, etc., that have a naked throat-pouch. |
| 1903 Med. Record 7 Feb. 228 The various lymphatic structures in Waldeyer's so-called lymphatic *throat ring. |
| 1843 Carlyle Past & Pr. iii. xii, Let me have elbow-room, *throat-room, and I will not fail! |
| 1858 Hilpert's Eng.-Germ. Dict., *Throat-root. 1884 Miller Plant-n., Geum virginianum, Throat-root, White Avens. |
| 1684 tr. Bonet's Merc. Compit. ii. 44 One..had his neck wonderfully swelled with the *Throat-Rupture. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Throat-seizing, in blocks, confines the hook and thimble in the strop home to the scores. |
| 1886 Corbett Fall of Asgard II. 9 There will be some merry *throat-slitting. |
| 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. Introd., Amongst Birds..The *throat stopper is in none, yet they temper the motion so, that nothing may fall into the throat. |
| 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., *Throat-strap, the upper strap of a halter that encircles the horse's throat; also called jaw strap. |
| a 1661 B. Holyday Juvenal x. 191 Nero did..ne're contract With one *throat-swoln, gor-bellied, or crump-back'd. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Sousgorge d'une bride, the *throat-thong, or throat-band of a bridle. |
| 1874 C. M. Scammon Marine Mammals 232 The cutting gear..consists of toggles, spades, boarding and leaning knives,..*throat-toggle, head axes, etc. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 997 The *throat-vents..are then left open. |
| 1901 Lancet 2 Nov. 1203/1 The application of an antiseptic *throat-wash. |
| 1875 Zoologist X. 4686 It [a bird] has but one medial *throat-wattle. |
▪ II. throat, v. (
θrəʊt)
[f. throat n.] 1. trans. To utter or articulate in or from one's throat; to speak in a guttural tone;
to throat out, to cry out or shout from the throat.
| c 1611 Chapman Iliad xiii. 135 So Hector hereto throated threats, to go to sea in blood. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. ii. 113 Throating it out, wheresoever he comes,..‘I am an Alguazil’. 1908 A. S. M. Hutchinson Once aboard Lugger v. iii. 304 ‘Barley water!’ Mr. Marrapit throated. ‘Barley water!’ 1929 S. Leslie Anglo-Catholic ix. 116 Music was being throated from a reed organ. |
† 2. a. To cut the throat of; to slaughter, slay.
Obs. rare. (
Cf. also throating-
knife.)
| 1382 Wyclif 2 Kings x. 14 Whom when thei hadden taken alyve, thei throtyden [1388 strangliden, Vulg. jugulaverunt, LXX ἔσϕαξαν] hem in the cystern, besyde the chaumbre. |
† b. Farming (
local). See
quot. Obs.| 1750 [implied in throating vbl. n.]. 1763 Museum Rust. (ed. 2) I. 236 Mons. de L'Isle's workman cuts the wheat against the bending, or, as an Aylesbury-vale man would say, throats it. |
3. Building. To furnish with a throat; to groove or channel. (Chiefly in
pa. pple. and vbl. n.)
| 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 311 [The fascia] is fluted or throated on its upper edge, to prevent the water from running over the ashlaring. 1876 Encycl. Brit. IV. 472/2 Sills are weathered and throated like the parts of a string course. 1881 Young Ev. Man his own Mechanic §1299 A dash-board..may be made out of a solid piece sloped at the top..and ‘throated’ or channelled on the under surface with a deep groove. 1883 Specif. Alnwick & Cornhill Railw. 5 Ashlar Copings..no stone is to be less than 2 feet 6 inches in length, and the whole are to be weathered and throated. |