throes
noun
[ θrəʊz ]
• intense or violent pain and struggle, especially accompanying birth, death, or great change.
• "he convulsed in his death throes"
Similar:
agony,
pain,
paroxysm,
pangs,
suffering,
torture,
torment,
anguish,
distress,
hardship,
struggle,
travail,
excruciation,
Origin:
Middle English throwe (singular); perhaps related to Old English thrēa, thrawu ‘calamity’, influenced by thrōwian ‘suffer’.
in the throes of
• in the middle of doing or dealing with something very difficult or painful.
• "a friend was in the throes of a divorce"
Similar:
struggling with,
wrestling with,
grappling with,
tackling,
toiling at/with,
labouring at,
slaving at,
working at/on,
having to cope with,
enduring,
living with,
weathering,
braving,
facing,
confronting,
in the middle of,
in the process of,
in the course of,
in the midst of,
busy with,
occupied in/with,
taken up with/by,
employed in,
involved in,
participating in,
taking part in,
absorbed in,
engrossed in,
immersed in,
preoccupied with,
carrying on,
conducting,
pursuing,
following,
practising,
