Bethrow

verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To throw or twist about; throw off; torture. obsolete, transitive

    "Gioseso, hauing prouided a good Holly-wand, went into the Chamber, where his wife sate railing, and despitefully grumbling, where taking her by the haire of her head, bethrew her at his feete, beating her entreamely with the wand."

Example

More examples

"Gioseso, hauing prouided a good Holly-wand, went into the Chamber, where his wife sate railing, and despitefully grumbling, where taking her by the haire of her head, bethrew her at his feete, beating her entreamely with the wand."

Etymology

From Middle English bethrowen, from Old English beþrāwan (“to twist”), equivalent to be- + throw. Cognate with West Frisian bedraaie (“to cheat, deceive”), Dutch bedraaien (“to involve”), German bedrehen (“to heave to, come to”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.