Throb Meaning
/θɹɒb/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo pound or beat rapidly or violently.
verbTo pulse (often painfully) in time with the circulation of blood.
Sentence Examples
My head began to throb.
The venom from the centipede's bite caused Miroslav's foot to throb with pain.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The intense headache made his temples ____ painfully with a steady ache.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He could feel his head begin to ____ after he had spent several hours working on the computer without a break today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English throbben; possibly of imitative origin.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Having been married and divorced, Suzanne throbs with attitudes of strength, liberation and equality."
— 1977 April 23, Arlene Silva, “Suzanne Fox's Silent Stories”, in Gay Community News, page 10:
"This is a country where nightclubs in Thimbu, the capital, throb with techno music, but where smoking is illegal and television did not arrive until 1999."
— 2008 March 21, Tim Sullivan, “Bhutanese reluctantly stepping into world of democracy”, in The New York Times (Asia Pacific section), New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 Dec 2013:
"My bosom was now bare, and rising in the warmest throbs, presented to his sight and feeling the firm hard swell of a pair of young breasts, such as may be imagin'd of a girl not sixteen, fresh out of the country"
— 1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The intense headache made his temples ____ painfully with a steady ache.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
He could feel his head begin to ____ after he had spent several hours working on the computer without a break today.