through
adverb/θruː/
/θruː/
For the special uses of through in phrasal verbs, look at the entries for the verbs. For example carry something through is in the phrasal verb section at carry.Idioms - from one end or side of something to the other
- Put the coffee in the filter and let the water run through.
- The tyre's flat—the nail has gone right through.
- The onlookers stood aside to let the paramedics through.
Homophones threw | throughthrew through/θruː//θruː/- threw verb (past tense of throw)
- He threw a stone at the window.
- through preposition
- Just go through this tunnel and then it's on the right.
- through adverb
- You can do it—you're three-quarters of the way through already!
- through adjective
- It's not a through road so it's quite quiet.
Definitions on the go
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- from the beginning to the end of a thing or period of time
- Don't tell me how it ends—I haven't read it all the way through yet.
- I expect I'll struggle through until payday.
- past a barrier, stage or test
- The lights were red but he drove straight through.
- Our team is through to (= has reached) the semi-finals.
- travelling through a place without stopping or without people having to get off one train and onto another
- ‘Did you stop in Oxford on the way?’ ‘No, we drove straight through.’
- This train goes straight through to York.
- connected by phone
- Ask to be put through to me personally.
- I tried to call you but I couldn't get through.
- used after an adjective to mean ‘completely’
- We got wet through.
Word OriginOld English thurh (preposition and adverb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch door and German durch. The spelling change to thr- appears c.1300, becoming standard from Caxton onwards.
Idioms
See through in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee through in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishthrough and through
- completely; in every way
- He's British through and through.
Check pronunciation:
through