throw down

== English == === Etymology === (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Source needed for the claim of Jay Johnson as first user.”) US, popularized 1970s in street culture, from idiom throw down the gauntlet (“to issue a challenge”), used in sense “to fight, to incite a fight, to make a stand” or otherwise get about partying with abandon (first used by Jay Johnson in Detroit in 1978 - taken nationally by Cecil Franklin, manager/brother of Aretha Franklin). Sense of “accomplish something respectable” evolved from sense “to make a stand, to exhibit, to demonstrate (in a challenging way)” inherent in the fighting sense. Sense of “to make a contribution” likely influenced by sense “to make a stand”, as in “are you in?”, “will you stand up and contribute?” === Pronunciation === === Verb === throw down (third-person singular simple present throws down, present participle throwing down, simple past threw down, past participle thrown down) (transitive) To cause something one is holding to drop, often forcefully. Synonyms: cast down, cast aside, throw aside (transitive, dated) To destroy or demolish. to throw down a tower (slang, idiomatic, transitive) To produce or perform (something) admirably or forcefully. (slang, idiomatic, intransitive, by extension) To accomplish or produce something in a grand, respectable, or successful manner; to "represent". (slang, idiomatic, intransitive) To drink a large amount quickly. (slang, idiomatic, intransitive) To fight; to make a stand. (slang, idiomatic, intransitive) To make an individual contribution to a group effort (e.g. money pool, collaborative record album). This term needs a definition. Please help out and add a definition, then remove the text {{rfdef}}. ==== Related terms ==== throwdown, throw-down throw down the gauntlet ==== Translations ==== === See also === bring it throw up === Anagrams === downthrow