# throat

Pronunciation: say "THROHT" US /ˈθɹoʊt/, UK /ˈθɹəʊt/

## Noun

1. The front part of the neck, between the chin and the collarbone.
   - Simple: The soft front part of your neck, under your chin.
   - _The doctor pressed gently along her throat to check for swollen glands._
   - _He loosened his tie when the collar pressed against his throat._
2. The passage inside the neck through which food and air pass; the gullet or windpipe.
   - Simple: The tube inside your neck that carries food and air down from your mouth.
   - _The smoke from the campfire made her throat burn._
   - _He cleared his throat before stepping up to the microphone._
3. A narrow opening in a vessel, such as the constricted neck of a bottle or jug.
   - Simple: The narrow opening at the top of a bottle, jar, or other container.
   - _The wine glugged as air fought its way past the throat of the jug._
   - _Choose a funnel whose throat is wide enough for the seeds to pass through._
4. The opening of a tubular organ, or the outer end of the tube of a flower whose petals are joined.
   - Simple: The opening of a tube-shaped part of a plant or animal, like the open end of a flower.
   - _Dark veins converge at the throat of the petunia, guiding bees inward toward the nectar._
   - _Insects slip down the slick throat of the pitcher plant's tubular trap._
6. The narrowed section of a chimney between the gathering, where the funnel contracts as it rises, and the flue.
   - Simple: The narrow part of a chimney just above the fireplace, where the smoke squeezes through.
   - _The mason narrowed the throat to improve the fireplace's draft._
   - _A damper installed at the throat lets you seal off the chimney when it's not in use._
7. Short for station throat. — Short for station throat
   - Simple: Short for station throat. The narrow stretch of track where rail lines come together just outside a station.
   - _Congestion in the throat delayed every departure that morning._
   - _A signal failure at the throat can paralyze an entire terminal._
8. In sailing, the corner at the top of the forward edge of a staysail or of a sail set with a boom and gaff.
   - Simple: On a sailboat, the top corner of a sail that sits closest to the mast.
   - _The throat halyard hoists the corner of the sail nearest the mast._
   - _The crew checked the lacing at the throat before getting underway._
9. The angle at which the arm of an anchor joins the shank.
   - Simple: The bent corner of an anchor, where one of its arms meets the long middle bar.
   - _Stress concentrates at the throat when the anchor digs into hard ground._
   - _The blacksmith reinforced the throat where the arm had begun to crack._
10. The end of a gaff that lies nearest the mast.
   - Simple: On a sailboat, the end of the pole holding the top of a sail, where it meets the mast.
   - _The jaws at the throat of the gaff grip the mast as the sail goes up._
   - _A line passed around the mast holds the throat in place while the peak swings free._
11. The inner side of the angle of a timber knee, the curved wooden bracket that joins a ship's beams to its frames.
   - Simple: The inside curve of a bent piece of wood used to hold parts of a ship together.
   - _The shipwright trimmed the throat of the knee so it seated flush against the beam._
   - _Rot often starts in the throat, where moisture lingers longest._

## Verb

5. To take something into the throat. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To take something down into your throat, the way you swallow food.
   - _The pelican throated the entire catch before the gulls could steal it._
   - _Cormorants can throat fish nearly the length of their own necks._

## Verb

12. To utter a sound in or with the throat. *(rare)*
   - Simple: To make a sound deep down in your throat.
   - _She throated a husky laugh at the old joke._
   - _Pigeons throat their soft coos from the window ledge each morning._
13. To mow beans or similar crops against the direction in which the stalks bend. *(obsolete, UK)*
   - Simple: To cut bean plants against the direction they lean.
   - _Field hands learned never to throat the beans, since the blade tore the leaning stalks._
   - _He throated half the field before the farmer stopped him and showed him the proper stroke._

## Origin

This word comes from Middle English "throte" and Old English "þrote," going back to Proto-Germanic "*þrutō" and a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to swell." It is related to Dutch "strot," German "Drossel," and Icelandic "þroti" (swelling).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/throat (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).