thrown

1. 1
   verb

   Past participle of throw.

   The javelin was thrown nearly ninety meters down the field.

   He had thrown several punches before the referee stepped in.

   Note

   The participle carries every sense of throw, not only hurling. A pot is thrown on the wheel, a rider is thrown from a horse, and a program has thrown an error. It pairs with have in the perfect and with be in the passive, while the simple past is threw. The -n ending is old, going back to Old English þrāwen.

2. 2
   adjective

   Launched through the air by throwing, rather than fired or dropped.

   The thrown dagger struck the wooden post dead center.

   Each thrown object was weighed carefully before the competition began.

3. 3
   adjectiveslang

   Confused or perplexed, especially by something unexpected.

   I was thrown by how calm she stayed during the argument.

   The interviewer seemed thrown by the candidate's blunt reply.

   Similarconfused, perplexed, disconcerted, flustered, baffled

   Oppositeunfazed, unruffled, composed, unperturbed

   Note

   Here the knocking off balance is mental rather than physical. It almost always follows be or seem and takes by for the cause, as in totally thrown by his bizarre remarks. Its shape matches the passive of the plain participle, so context decides: thrown by a horse is physical, while thrown by a question is not. It is slang, so keep it to conversation and casual writing.

4. 4
   adjective

   Made into a single thread by twisting fibers or strands together, as with silk or yarn.

   Thrown silk commands a higher price than the raw filament.

   The mill produced thrown thread for the local weavers.

   Similartwisted

   Oppositeraw

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