throw someone a curve
throw someone a curve verb: used other than figuratively or idiomatically: To pitch a curve ball.
Verb
throw someone a curve (third-person singular simple present throws someone a curve, present participle throwing someone a curve, simple past threw someone a curve, past participle thrown someone a curve)
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: To pitch a curve ball.
- To surprise; to introduce something unexpected or requiring a quick reaction or correction.
- He really threw me a curve when he asked me a personal question at work.
Forms of throw someone a curve
| third-person singular present | throws someone a curve |
|---|---|
| present participle | throwing someone a curve |
| past | threw someone a curve |
| past participle | thrown someone a curve |
| alternative form | throw someone a curveball |
Origin of throw someone a curve
From the curve ball in baseball, where a spin is employed to adjust the path of the ball unexpectedly.
Questions about throw someone a curve
- What does throw someone a curve mean?
- Throw someone a curve means used other than figuratively or idiomatically: To pitch a curve ball.
- What part of speech is throw someone a curve?
- Throw someone a curve is a verb.
- What is the past tense of throw someone a curve?
- The past tense of throw someone a curve is threw someone a curve.
Words near throw someone a curve in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: throw someone a curve (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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Cite this entry: “throw someone a curve.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/throw_someone_a_curve. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.