Throe (?), n. [OE. þrowe,
þrawe, AS. þreÁ a threatening, oppression,
suffering, perhaps influenced by Icel. þrā a throe, a
pang, a longing; cf. AS. þreowian to suffer.]
1. Extreme pain; violent pang; anguish; agony;
especially, one of the pangs of travail in childbirth, or
purturition.
Prodogious motion felt, and rueful
throes.
Milton.
2. A tool for splitting wood into shingles; a
frow.
Throe, v. i. To struggle in extreme
pain; to be in agony; to agonize.
Throe, v. t. To put in agony. [R.]
Shak.