throe
noun
1. severe spasm of pain
- the throes of dying
- the throes of childbirth
Definition categories: state, agony, excruciation, suffering
2. hard or painful trouble or struggle
- a country in the throes of economic collapse
verb
1. (transitive) To put in agony.
2. (intransitive) To struggle in extreme pain; to be in agony; to agonize.