When You Need Me, You Throw Me Away Riddle Answer Explained

Updated 13 August 2025 04:12 PM

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When You Need Me, You Throw Me Away Riddle Answer Explained

When You Need Me, You Throw Me Away Riddle Answer Explained

Riddles have a way of making us pause, think, and sometimes smile when we hear the answer. They often play with our expectations by describing everyday things in unusual ways. One popular riddle that has intrigued many is:

Question:

“When you need me, you throw me away. When you don’t need me, you bring me back.”

The Answer

  • An anchor.​​

Answer Explanation

When a ship or boat stops in the water, it needs to stay in one place. This is achieved by throwing away the anchor, meaning dropping it into the water so it can grip the seabed and keep the vessel steady. In this context, “throwing away” is simply the act of discarding it into the water temporarily, not permanently getting rid of it.

When the ship is ready to move again, the anchor is no longer needed, so it is brought back onto the boat.

The riddle is a clever play on words, using “throw away” in a non-literal sense and making us think about scenarios where something is only useful when it’s “discarded.”

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