throw one out on one’s eartv. to remove
someone from a place forcibly.
Straighten up, or I’ll throw you out on your
ear. The caretaker caught us and threw
us out on our ear.
throw one’s cookiesGo to toss one’s
cookies.
throw one’s hat in the ringtv. to indi-
cate that one is to be a contestant or a
candidate. The con claimed he needed
parole so he could throw his hat in the ring
for the mayoral election. I won’t throw
my hat into the ring until the last minute.
throw one’s voicetv. to empty one’s stom-
ach; to vomit. Wally’s in the john
throwing his voice. Another drink of
that stuff and Don’ll be throwing his voice
all night.
throw one’s weight aroundtv. to show off
one’s importance or power; to use one’s
rank or station to advantage. The vice
president was throwing his weight around,
but that had little effect on anything.
Don’t pay any attention to her. She’s just
throwing her weight around.
throw salt on someone’s gametv. to
mess up someone’s plans. I don’t mean
to throw salt on your game, but I don’t
think you can pull it off.
throw someone for a looptv. to confuse
or surprise someone. The whole busi-
ness threw me for a loop. Don’t let this
question throw you for a loop.
throw something backtv. to eat or drink
something. Did you throw that whole
beer back? TJed threw back a quick snort
and went on with his complaining.
throw something togetherGo to knock
something together.
throw the book at someonetv. [for the
police] to charge someone with every-
thing possible; [for a judge] to find some-
one guilty of everything possible. (As if
one were being charged with violating all
the laws in a law book.) The judge
wanted to throw the book at Bruno, but the
prosecutor convinced him to go easy in
hope that Ziggy would lead them to Mr.
Big. They threw the book at Rocko—he
got 180 years.throw the bull and throw the craptv. to
chat; to boast. (Use caution with crap.)
Tom could really throw the bull and
sound right as rain. You’re just throw-
ing the crap. Can it!throw the crapGo to throw the bull.throw up one’s toenailstv. to wretch; to
vomit a lot. It sounded like he was
throwing up his toenails. Who’s in the
john throwing up her toenails?thumb a ridetv. to beg a ride; to stand at
the side of the street and signal to cars
with one’s thumb for a ride. I’ll thumb
a ride to get there if I have to. I thumbed
a ride to speed things up.thumbern. a beggar; a moocher.(As one
who thumbs or begs a ride.) Don’t be
a thumber, Frank. Go buy your own can-
cer sticks. There was a thumber on every
corner trying to get a ride from someone.thumbnail sketchn. a quick and concise
description. (One that could be written
on someone’s thumbnail.) Let me give
you a thumbnail sketch of what happened.
The story—in a thumbnail sketch—
deals with a family of storks and what
happens to them during each of the four
seasons.thumbs down 1. n. a sign of disapproval.
(See also turn thumbs down (on some-
one or something).) The board gave
our proposal a thumbs down. Not an-
other thumbs down! 2. mod. disapprov-
ing; negative. It was thumbs down, and
I was disappointed. The thumbs down
decision was a victory for good sense.thumbs up 1. n. a sign of approval. It
was a thumbs up on the new filtration
plant at Thursday’s village board meeting.
There was no thumbs up for the mayor
as she faced certain defeat in today’s bal-
loting. 2. mod. approving; positive. The
new filtration plant got a thumbs up de-
cision at the board meeting. A thumbs
up vote assured another three years of fi-
nancial assistance.throw one out on one’s ear