Word.ws English Dictionary

throw in at the deep end

throw in at the deep end verb: to introduce (someone) to a new situation without adequate preparation.

Verb

throw in at the deep end (third-person singular simple present throws in at the deep end, present participle throwing in at the deep end, simple past threw in at the deep end, past participle thrown in at the deep end)

  1. (idiomatic) To introduce (someone) to a new situation without adequate preparation.

Forms of throw in at the deep end

third-person singular presentthrows in at the deep end
present participlethrowing in at the deep end
pastthrew in at the deep end
past participlethrown in at the deep end

Origin of throw in at the deep end

From allusion to an actual swimming pool with a shallow end and deep end. In the shallow end, a person can stand on the bottom. In the deep end, the water is too deep to do this, so a person must be able to swim or at least tread water or drown.

Questions about throw in at the deep end

What does throw in at the deep end mean?
Throw in at the deep end means to introduce (someone) to a new situation without adequate preparation.
What part of speech is throw in at the deep end?
Throw in at the deep end is a verb.
What is the past tense of throw in at the deep end?
The past tense of throw in at the deep end is threw in at the deep end.

Words near throw in at the deep end in the dictionary

  1. throw gas on the fire
  2. throw gasoline on the fire
  3. throw good money after bad
  4. throw hands
  5. throw in
  6. throw in at the deep end
  7. throw in one's hand
  8. throw in one's lot with
  9. throw in the bark
  10. throw in the cards
  11. throw in the sponge

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: throw in at the deep end (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-throw in at the deep end.ogg.

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