through
adjective/θruː/
/θruː/
- [only before noun] through traffic travels from one side of a place to the other without stopping
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- [only before noun] a through train takes you to the final place you want to get to and you do not have to get off and get on another trainTopics Transport by bus and trainb2
- [only before noun] a through road or route is open at both ends and allows traffic to travel from one end to the other
- The village lies on a busy through road.
- No through road (= the road is closed at one end).
Homophones threw | throughthrew throughTopics Transport by car or lorryb2/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.
- [not before noun] through (with something/somebody) (especially North American English) used to show that you have finished using something or have ended a relationship with somebody
- Are you through with that newspaper?
- Todd and I are 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.
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