bethrow

B3E1T1H4R1O1W4

verb

To throw or twist about; throw off; torture.

OriginMiddle English bethrowen ← Old English beþrāwan →
Scrabble 15
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Meanings

verbbethrow (third-person singular simple present bethrows, present participle bethrowing, simple past bethrew, past participle bethrown)

present singular third person bethrows · participle present bethrowing · past bethrew · participle past bethrown

  1. obsoletetransitiveTo throw or twist about; throw off; torture.

    O master heare you, you have made a fresh hand now, I thought you would bethrow you: what will you doe now?

    2014, Paul A. Scanlon, Adrian Roscoe, The Common Touch: Popular Literature from the Elizabethans to the Restoration, →ISBN
    2 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.

    1620, Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron, Containing an Hundred Pleasant Nouels

    Were I a flower what would I do, […] I would be growing to be Be made into a garland to To bethrow two people in a A bond of marriage or Or adorn, the neck of someone honoured at a drop of a hat.

    2013, Amritpal Singh, Journies of Fledging Steps, page 34

Origin

  1. Old Englishbeþrāwan“to twist”
  2. Middle Englishbethrowen
  3. Englishbethrow

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”).

More words from Middle English, Old English

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

bethrow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bethrow

MLA

“bethrow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bethrow. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bethrow,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bethrow.

Source: bethrow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.