Definition of 'through'
pronunciation note: The preposition is pronounced (θruː
). In other cases, through is pronounced (θruː
)In addition to the uses shown below, through is used in phrasal verbs such as 'see through', 'think through', and 'win through'.
1. preposition
To move through something such as a
hole,
opening, or
pipe means to move
directly from one side or end of it to the other.
The theatre was evacuated when rain poured through the roof at the Liverpool Playhouse.
Go straight through that door under the EXIT sign.
Visitors enter through a side entrance.
The main path continues through a tunnel of trees.
Through is also an
adverb.
He went straight through to the kitchen and took a can of cola from the fridge.
She opened the door and stood back to allow the man to pass through.
2. preposition
To cut through something means to cut it in two pieces or to make a hole in it.
A fish knife is designed to cut through the flesh but not the bones.
Some rabbits have even taken to gnawing through the metal.
Through is also an adverb.
Score deeper each time until the board is cut through.
3. preposition
To go through a town, area, or country means to
travel across it or in it.
Go up to Ramsgate, cross into France, go through Andorra and into Spain.
...travelling through pathless woods.
The couple set off in August from Morocco, drove through the Sahara, visited Nigeria
and were heading for Zimbabwe.
...a memorable road trip through the California vineyards.
Through is also an adverb.
Few know that the tribe was just passing through.
4. preposition
If you move through a group of things or a mass of something, it is on either side of you or all around
you.
We made our way through the crowd to the river.
Sybil's fingers ran through the water.
Nancy kept running, plunging through the sand.
He hurried through the rain, to the patrol car.
Through is also an adverb.
He pushed his way through to the edge of the crowd where he waited.
5. preposition
Allow twenty-five minutes to get through Passport Control and Customs.
He was one of the last of the crowd to pass through the barrier.
Traders generally travel safely through the border.
Through is also an adverb.
...a maze of barriers, designed to prevent vehicles driving straight through.
6. preposition
7. preposition
If something goes into an object and comes out of the other side, you can
say that it passes through the object.
The ends of the net pass through a wooden bar at each end.
Zita was herself unconventional, keeping a safety-pin stuck through her ear lobe.
Through is also an adverb.
I bored a hole so that the fixing bolt would pass through.
8. preposition
To go through a system means to move around it or to pass from one end of it to the other.
...electric currents travelling through copper wires.
What a lot of cards you've got through the post!
...a child's successful passage through the education system.
Through is also an adverb.
...a resolution which would allow food aid to go through with fewer restrictions.
9. preposition
If you
see,
hear, or
feel something through a particular thing, that thing is between you and the thing you can see, hear, or
feel.
Alice gazed pensively through the wet glass.
They could hear music pulsing through the walls of the house.
I am sure I can feel a vibration through the soles of my feet.
10. preposition
If something such as a feeling,
attitude, or quality,
happens through an area, organization, or a person's body, it happens
everywhere in it or affects all of it.
An atmosphere of anticipation vibrated through the crowd.
The melody that ran through his brain was composed of bad notes.
What was going through his mind when he spoke those amazing words?
A mood of optimism swept through the company and its customers.
11. preposition
If something happens or exists through a period of time, it happens or exists from the
beginning until the end.
We're playing in New Zealand, Australia and Japan through November.
Saga features trips for older people at home and abroad all through the year.
She kept quiet all through breakfast.
Through is also an adverb.
We've got a tough programme, hard work right through to the summer.
He worked right through.
12. preposition
If something happens from a particular period of time through another, it starts at the first period and
continues until the end of the second period.
[US] ...open Monday through Sunday from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm.
During her busy season (March through June), she often completes as many as fifty
paintings a week.
regional note: in BRIT, use to 13. preposition
If you go through a particular experience or event, you experience it, and if you
behave in a particular way through it, you behave in that way while it is
happening.
Men go through a change of life emotionally just like women.
...a humorous woman who had lived through two world wars in Paris.
Why was I putting myself through all this misery?
Through it all, Mark was outwardly calm.
14. adjective [verb-link ADJECTIVE]
If you are through with something or if it is through, you have
finished doing it and will
never do it again. If you are through with someone, you do not
want to have anything to do with them again.
I'm through with the explaining.
[+ with]
Training as a counsellor would guarantee her employment once her schooling was through.
They were through. They wanted out. Forever.
I'm through with women.
15. preposition
You use through in
expressions such as half-way through and all the way through to indicate to what
extent an action or
task is completed.
A competitor collapsed half-way through the marathon.
Through is also an adverb.
Stir the meat about until it turns white all the way through.
16. preposition
If something happens because of something else, you can say that it happens through it.
They are understood to have retired through age or ill health.
The thought of someone suffering through a mistake of mine makes me shiver.
17. preposition
You use through when stating the means by which a particular thing is
achieved.
Those who seek to grab power through violence deserve punishment.
You simply can't get a ticket through official channels.
18. preposition
If you do something through someone else, they take the
necessary action for you.
Do I need to go through my doctor or can I make an appointment direct?
Speaking through an interpreter, he called for some new thinking from the West.
19. adverb [ADVERB after verb]
If something such as a
proposal or idea goes through, it is
accepted by people in authority and is made legal or official.
It is possible that the present Governor General will be made interim President,
if the proposals go through.
The secretary of state during the Nixon-Ford transition did not wish to push the
proposals through.
Through is also a
preposition.
They want to get the plan through Congress as quickly as possible.
20. preposition
She was bright, learned languages quickly, and sailed through her exams.
All the seeded players got through the first round.
Through is also an adverb.
Nigeria also go through from that group.
21. adverb [ADVERB after verb]
When you get through while making a
phone call, the call is connected and you can speak to the person you are phoning.
He may find the line cut on the phone so that he can't get through.
Smith tried to get through to Frank at Warm Springs the next morning.
22. preposition
Let's go through the numbers together and see if a workable deal is possible.
When you have finished your list of personal preferences, go through it again.
David ran through the agreement with Guy, point by point.
He, too, had a lot of paperwork to get through.
23. preposition
If you
read through something, you read it from beginning to end.
She read through pages and pages of the music I had brought her.
I only had time to skim through the script before I flew over here.
Through is also an adverb.
He read the article straight through.
24. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]
A through train goes directly to a particular place, so that the people who want to go there
do not have to change trains.
...Britain's longest through train journey, 685 miles.
25. adverb [adj ADV]
[emphasis]
I returned to the inn cold and wet, soaked through by the drizzling rain.
She went on crying, and cried and cried until the pillow was wet through.
26.
COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Video: pronunciation of
through
Word Frequency
through in British English
preposition
1.
a path through the wood
3.
as a result of; by means of
the thieves were captured through his vigilance
4. mainly US
up to and including
Monday through Friday
5.
during
through the night
6.
at the end of; having (esp successfully) completed
7.
through with
adjective
8. (postpositive)
having successfully completed some specified activity
9.
(on a
telephone line) connected
10. (postpositive)
no longer able to function successfully in some specified
capacity
as a journalist, you're through
adverb
Also: (informal or poetic) thro' or (informal or poetic) thro or (chiefly US) thru12.
through some specified thing, place, or period of time
13.
thoroughly; completely
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word origin
Old English thurh; related to Old Frisian thruch, Old Saxon thuru, Old High German duruhWord Frequency
through in American English
preposition
1.
in one side and out the other side of; from end to end of
3.
by way of
a train that goes through Boston
4.
over the
entire extent or surface of
5.
to various places in; around
touring through France
6.
a.
from the beginning to the end or
conclusion of
to go through an experience, through the summer, went through all his provisions
b. US
up to and including
through Friday
7.
without making a stop for
to go through a red light
9.
by means of
through her help
10.
as a result of; because of
done through error
adverb
11.
in one side and out the other; from end to end
12.
from the beginning to the end
13.
completely to the end; to a conclusion
to see something through
14.
in every part or way; thoroughly; completely
soaked through
: also through and through adjective
▶ USAGE: Through is also used in idiomatic expressions (e.g., get through), many of which are entered in this dictionary under the key words16. US
b.
continuing on without making a stop
through traffic
20.
Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved.
Word origin
ME thurgh, thrugh < OE thurh, akin to Ger durch < IE base *ter-, through, beyond > L trans, across, Sans tiráḥ, through
Example sentences including
through
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Trends of
through
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In other languages
through
British English: through
/θruː/ PREPOSITION
from one side to the other of Through means going all the way from one side of something to the other side.
We walked through the forest.
- American English: through
- Arabic: خِلَال
- Brazilian Portuguese: através de
- Chinese: 通过
- Croatian: kroz
- Czech: přes
- Danish: gennem
- Dutch: door
- European Spanish: por vía
- Finnish: läpi
- French: à travers
- German: durch
- Greek: διαμέσου
- Italian: attraverso
- Japanese: ･･･を通って
- Korean: ...을 통과하여
- Norwegian: gjennom
- Polish: przez
- European Portuguese: através de
- Romanian: de la un capăt la celălalt
- Russian: через
- Latin American Spanish: por a través de
- Swedish: genom
- Thai: ผ่านไป
- Turkish: içinden
- Ukrainian: через
- Vietnamese: xuyên qua
Nearby words of
through
Related terms of
through
Source
Definition of through from the
Collins English Dictionary
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