Throe \Throe\, n. [OE. [thorn]rowe, [thorn]rawe, AS. [thorn]re['a] a threatening, oppression, suffering, perhaps influenced by Icel. [thorn]r[=a] a throe, a pang, a longing; cf. AS. [thorn]reowian 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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Throe \Throe\, v. i. To struggle in extreme pain; to be in agony; to agonize.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

Throe \Throe\, v. t. To put in agony. [R.]

--Shak.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)