through

alternative US informal thru · alternative archaic poetic thro' · alternative thorough · alternative dialectal pronunciation spelling thoo · alternative obsolete thorow · alternative obsolete throughe · alternative obsolete thrue · alternative obsolete thurrow

1. From one side or end of (something) to the other.
   1. So as to enter (something), pass within or across, and then leave.

      The bullet went right through his leg.

      2 more examples

      I drove through Lausanne on my way from Geneva to Zurich.

      A “moving platform” scheme[…]is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays.

      2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, archived from the original on 10 Aug 2013, page 13 (Technology Quarterly)

   2. So as to progress within (something) or towards the end or limit of (something).

      They forced a path through the jungle.

      2 more examples

      The virus broke out in the capital city and is now spreading quickly through the country.

      I'm working through this box set of the TV series 'Downton Abbey'.

   3. From one side of (an opening) to the other.

      Look through the window.

      1 more example

      Go straight ahead and through that door.

   4. To or beyond the other side of (an obstacle); past.

      We're through the worst part.

      5 more examples

      I hope to start in the autumn, but I've got to get through the interview first.

      The finance bill did not get through Congress.

      The going will be easier once we're through the bog.

      You can't see through a brick wall!

      Risk is everywhere.[…]For each one there is a frighteningly precise measurement of just how likely it is to jump from the shadows and get you. “The Norm Chronicles”[…]aims to help data-phobes find their way through this blizzard of risks.

      2013 June 22, “Snakes and ladders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, archived from the original on 13 Aug 2013, page 76

   5. 'get through' etc.Indicating that something has been consumed or used up.

      Have you got through all those chocolates already?!

      1 more example

      The company went through its £100m startup investment in six months.

   6. Along the course of; used in expressions of progress towards the end of something.

      We're halfway through the year.

   7. Throughout the duration of.

      He worked through the night.

      1 more example

      I never want to sit through another meeting like that again.

2. Via or by way of.
   1. By way of (a physical passage).

      The hot water enters through this pipe.

   2. By way of (an intermediary, agent, medium, etc.).

      I met her through a friend of mine.

      3 more examples

      This matter was dealt with through our London office.

      I received this anonymous letter through the post.

      Inf America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result. If the bumf arrived electronically, the take-up rate was 0.1%. And for online adverts the “conversion” into sales was a minuscule 0.01%.

      2013 May 25, “No hiding place”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8837, archived from the original on 12 Jul 2013, page 74

3. Throughout or across the extent of.

   There are errors all through this report.

   1 more example

   Work the eggs and sugar through the mixture.

4. Amidst or surrounded by (while moving).

   The arrow flew through the air.

   5 more examples

   We slogged through the mud for hours before turning back and giving up.

   I spent all day wading through paperwork.

   Athelstan Arundel walked home all the way, foaming and raging. […] He walked the whole way, walking through crowds, and under the noses of dray-horses, carriage-horses, and cart-horses, without taking the least notice of them.

   1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 16

   I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.

   1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter I, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC

   Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.

   1914 November, Louis Joseph Vance, “An Outsider […]”, in Munsey’s Magazine, volume LIII, number II, New York, N.Y.: The Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Company, […], published 1915, →OCLC, chapter III (Accessory After the Fact), page 382, column 1

5. CanadaUSTo (or up to) and including, with all intermediate values; to... inclusive; until the end of.

   from 1945 through 1991;  the numbers 1 through 9;  your membership is active through March 15, 2013

   2 more examples

   The plural is "oyesses", but "oyes" vied with "oyez" through about the first half of the nineteenth century.

   It includes patent requests in machine learning through 2016, the last year for which details are available.

   2019 February 3, “UN Study: China, US, Japan Lead World AI Development”, in Voice of America, archived from the original on 07 Feb 2019

6. By means of.

   This team believes in winning through intimidation.

   3 more examples

   He's got to where he is today through sheer hard work and determination.

   But the home side were ahead in the eighth minute through 18-year-old Oxlade-Chamberlain.

   2011 September 28, Tom Rostance, “Arsenal 2-1 Olympiakos”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 21 Jul 2019

   Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.

   2013 July 20, “The attack of the MOOCs”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845, archived from the original on 06 Aug 2013

7. In consequence of; as a result of.

   The project failed through lack of investment.

   1 more example

   Our minds and hearts are corrupted with the Adamic virus at birth, and through a lifetime of sin and tragedy, our hearts and thoughts get more evil and more corrupted as we experience life's tragedies.

   2012, Dimitri Yanuli, You Might Be Right, but You Ain't Right with the Word of God

alternative US informal thru · alternative archaic poetic thro' · alternative thorough · alternative dialectal pronunciation spelling thoo · alternative obsolete thorow · alternative obsolete throughe · alternative obsolete thrue · alternative obsolete thurrow

1. not comparablePassing from one side of something to the other.

   Interstate highways form a nationwide system of through roads.

   1 more example

   It is possible to use a through bolt so that the bolt will be loaded axially, but usually axial loads are only components of the total load on the bolt.

   1994, Don A. Halperin, G. Thomas Bible, Principles of Timber Design for Architects and Builders, page 137

2. USnot comparableFinished; complete.

   They were through with laying the subroof by noon.

   1 more example

   Early in the Talmudic period the service was divided between two officers. One was invited to recite the Shema including the benedictions connected with it […] After he was through, another man was invited to stand up before the pulpit facing the direction of Jerusalem to recite the prayer proper, i.e., the Amida.

   1929, Abraham Zevi Idelsohn, Jewish Music: Its Historical Development, page 108

3. not comparableAlong the course of a task etc.; used in expressions of progress towards the end.

   It's a big job but we're halfway through.

4. not comparableWithout a future; done for.

   After being implicated in the scandal, he was through as an executive in financial services.

   1 more example

   You chumps are tougher than you look. But I'm not through yet! Everyone! GET 'EM!!!

   2004, Intelligent Systems, translated by Nintendo of America, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Nintendo, GameCube, level/area: Shhwonk Fortress

5. not comparableNo longer interested; wearied or turned off by experience.

   She was through with him.

   3 more examples

   “I'm through with all pawn-games,” I laughed. “Come, let us have a game of lansquenet. Either I will take a farewell fall out of you or you will have your sevenfold revenge”.

   1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter I, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC

   We’re through being cool. We’re through being cool. Eliminate the ninnies and the twits.

   1981 September 16, Devo, “Through Being Cool”, in New Traditionalists

   I'm worth a million in prizes / Yeah, I'm through with sleeping on the sidewalk / No more beating my brains / No more beating my brains / With the liquor and drugs / With the liquor and drugs

   1977, Iggy Pop, Lust For Life

6. not comparableProceeding from origin to destination without the need to change transport vehicle.

   When is the next through train to London?

   2 more examples

   The through flight through Memphis was the fastest.

   Also the 10.45 a.m. from Paddington by the same route is called "Through Train via Severn Tunnel," but in later years, when made up of corridor stock, it is called "Through Corridor Express via Severn Tunnel." The frequent use of "through" on the South Wales section of G.W.R. began when the Severn Tunnel route was used for through trains between Paddington and South Wales in the summer of 1887 in order to draw continual attention to the improved facilities.

   1940 November, “Notes and News: The First Corridor Train”, in Railway Magazine, page 618

7. not comparableConnected (to someone) by telephone.

   You're through to the doctor now.

8. not comparableball gamesIn possession of the ball beyond the last line of defence but not necessarily the goalkeeper; through on goal.

   With the Swifts calling for offside the striker was through and only a great save from McIlravey prevented the opener.

   2015, Steve Grossi, SWFL1: Missed Chances See Swifts Relinquish Top Spot

9. CommonwealthIrelandUKnot comparablerare(usually followed by "to") Able to progress (to the next stage or a higher level) following success in an exam, sports match, etc.

   Manchester United are through to the FA Cup Final for the thirteenth time.

alternative US informal thru · alternative archaic poetic thro' · alternative thorough · alternative dialectal pronunciation spelling thoo · alternative obsolete thorow · alternative obsolete throughe · alternative obsolete thrue · alternative obsolete thurrow

1. From one side of something to the other.
   1. not comparableBy way of the interior.

      The arrow went straight through.

      1 more example

      I didn't like the look of the place, so I drove through without stopping.

   2. not comparableBy way of an opening.

      I opened the window and climbed through.

   3. not comparableSo as to overcome an obstacle and pass beyond it; past.

      The American army broke through at Saint-Lô.

      1 more example

      The road is blocked by an overturned truck, and cars can't pass through.

2. not comparableSo as to pass a stage in a process and proceed to the next stage or level.

   She progressed through to the final round of the competition.

   1 more example

   The bill will be tabled tomorrow, but I doubt that it will be voted through.

3. not comparableFrom beginning to end, or from the present position to the end.

   She read the letter through.

   3 more examples

   Others went to bed for the night; he worked straight through.

   The baby cried the whole night through.

   He said he would see it through.

4. not comparableThroughout something; all the way across or into something.

   Leave the yarn in the dye overnight so the color soaks through.

5. not comparableSo as to connect with or reach.

   I had difficulty reaching the commander, but eventually my call was routed through.

plural throughs

1. obsoleteA coffin, sarcophagus or tomb of stone; a large slab of stone laid on a tomb, or in a dry-stone wall from one side to the other; a perpend.