pull through

present singular third person pulls through · participle present pulling through · participle past pulled through · past pulled through

1. intransitiveTo come through pain and trouble through perseverance.

   Dr. Gilman's race horse was bad last week; fortunately Mr. Verney, the District Veterinary Surgeon, succeeded in pulling him through.

   1901 April 12, “District Reports”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume 4, number 3, page 68

   2 more examples

   There was once a poor, very poor widow, who had an only son. She pulled through with the boy till he was confirmed; but then she told him that she could not feed him any longer; he would have to go out and earn his own bread.

   1886, Peter Christen Asbjø￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 215

   At one time it looked as though he could not live more than a few hours, and I am convinced that it was only through the Dutchman's doggedness that he pulled through.

   1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 26”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC

2. transitiveTo assist someone through difficulties, injury, pain, etc.

   "Dr. Van-Herne is confident of pulling Godfrey through, isn't he?"

   1936, F.J. Thwaites, chapter XV, in The Redemption, Sydney: H. John Edwards, published 1940, page 176

3. transitiveTo clean the barrel of a firearm using a pull through.

plural pull throughs

1. misspellingMisspelling of pull-through.