Throw Down definition

Etymology

"Fighting and incitement" sense evolved from the older idiom throw down the gauntlet. Sense of "accomplish something respectable" likely evolved further in street culture from a sense of "to make a stand" inherent in the fighting sense.

Verb

to cause something one is holding to drop, often forcefully.

The soldiers threw down their weapons and surrendered.
to produce or perform (something) admirably or forcefully.
- 2001, Dave Thompson, Funk, back cover
  
  ...this guide tracks the artists and recordings that throw down the funk!
- 2004, Kylie Adams, Ex-Girlfriends, p48
  
  “Punch up the rhymes. Throw down some beats. Show off that body. You'll be unstoppable.”
to fight, incite to fight, or approach with the intent to fight; to make a stand.
- 2002, Lory Janelle Dance, Tough Fronts: The Impact of Street Culture on Schooling, p60
  
  Let's you and me 'throw down' right here, right now!
- 2004, William Bowers, "I Think I'm Going to Hell", in Da Capo Best Music Writing 2004, p41
  
  When someone near me at a show called the band My Boring Racket, I was ready to throw down, but for the good sense of an accompanying female...
- 2004, bell hooks, We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity, p59
  
  Today's young and hip black male who fancies himself a radical, who is ready to throw down for the cause, is not talking about neo-colonialism, about global struggle.
- 2006, Erick S. Gray, Nasty Girls: An Urban Novel, p32
  
  She said no words and was the first to throw down. She stepped up to Dee, and pow!
- 2006, Sherman D. Manning, Blue-Eyed Blonde, p345
  
  The time has come. I'm ready to take action. I wanna kick ass and take names later. I wanna throw down, baby boy and baby girl.
(by extension) to accomplish or produce something in a grand, respectable, or successful manner; to "represent".
- 1997, Richard C. Green, Soul: Black Power, Politics, and Pleasure, p93
  
  Yeah, they could literally throw down. When their sound came out, it was earth-shaking.
- 1998, Sheila Copeland, Chocolate Star, p260
  
  “You're performing for the who's who of radio and records at the Soul Train Awards tonight and you've got to throw down”.
- 2005, J. Anthony White, The Class Conscious Crew: S.W.A., p?
  
  ...she wouldn't mind marrying a man with some serious bank and able to sho-nuf throw-down in the bedroom!
to make an individual contribution to a group effort (eg. money pool, collaborative record album)

"We're goin' in on a pizza; you in?" "Yea, I'll throw down."