throw up

vomit

Throw up is most commonly used as an informal term meaning to vomit. Like vomit, it can also be used as a noun—in which case it’s often hyphenated as throw-up (or, less commonly, spelled as one word—throwup).

Throw up is informal, but there are many even more informal slang terms, many of which can also be used as both a verb and a noun, including puke, barf, hurl, spew, ralph, upchuck, and chunder.

Slang verb phrases include the unpleasantly vivid lose one’s lunch and toss one’s cookies. A particularly fanciful synonym is do the technicolor yawn. The term pray to the porcelain god means to bend down in front of the toilet while throwing up (in a pose that resembles kneeling before an idol).

The terms retch and heave can both be used as verbs meaning to vomit and as nouns referring to the motion or action of vomiting.

Euphemisms for the verb sense of throw up include be sick and get sick, as in I might get sick if I go on that roller coaster.

A technical term is regurgitate. Formal, medical terms include vomitus and emesis.

Baby throw up from breast milk or formula is often called spit up, which can also be used as a verb. (From a medical perspective, spitting up is not quite the same as vomiting.)

Other meanings

Throw up can also mean to raise, as in He threw up his arms in disgust. The literal motion of raising one’s arms in the air out of frustration is the basis of the phrase throw up one’s hands, meaning to quit or give up, especially out of frustration (or to indicate that one is quitting). Another idiom with a similar meaning is throw in the towel.

Throw up can also mean to build something quickly or hastily, as in The way they throw up these houses so fast makes you wonder how well-built they could possibly be. The phrases throw together and slap together are similar, but they’re often used for smaller things, including intangible ones, as in I just slapped together that presentation at the last minute or I hate having to throw together dinner on weeknights.

Throw up is informal but commonly used in place of vomit. It can be used as a verb and a noun. When it’s used as a noun, it’s often hyphenated.

Here are some examples of throw up in a sentence:

• My migraine was so bad it made me throw up.
• They used sawdust to clean up the throw-up. 
• I just threw up my hands and walked away, done with the committee forever. 
• You can’t just throw up a skyscraper like any old building—it requires unique considerations.