in the throes

In the midst of, especially of a difficult struggle. For example, The country was in the throes of economic collapse, or We were in the throes of giving a formal dinner when my in-laws arrived. The noun throe, meaning “a severe pang or spasm of pain,” was at first used mainly for such physical events as childbirth or dying. Today it is used both seriously (first example) and more lightly (second example). [Mid-1800s]

Words nearby in the throes

in the soup, in the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love, in the street, in the swim, in the teeth of, in the throes, in the twinkling of an eye, in the unlikely event, in the wake of, in the way, in the wind