From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishthroughthrough1 /θruː/ ●●● S1 W1 preposition, adverb 1 door/passage etcENTER into one side or end of an entrance, passage, hole etc and out of the other side or end She smiled at him as he walked through the door. Water will be pumped through a pipe. I managed to squeeze through a gap in the hedge. They were suddenly plunged into darkness as the train went through a tunnel. There were people standing in the doorway and I couldn’t get through.through to I went through to the kitchen to see who was there.2 HOLEcutting/breaking cutting or breaking something, or making a hole from one side of it to the other A football came crashing through the window.straight/right/clean through The bullet passed straight through his skull.3 ENTERacross an area from one side of an area to the other or between a group of things We passed through France on our way to Italy. We made our way through the village to the farm. The wind howled through the trees. He had to push his way through the crowd to get to her. Let me through – I’m a doctor.get through/make it through (=reach a place after a difficult journey) You’ll never get through – the snow’s two metres deep. Rescue teams have finally made it through to the survivors. We drove right through the town centre. Carry on straight through the village.4 SEEsee through something if you see something through glass, a window etc, you are on one side of the glass etc and it is on the other I could see her through the window. I could see right through the thin curtains.5 ENTERpast a place past a place where you are supposed to stop It took us ages to get through passport control. He drove straight through a red light. 6 DURINGtime during and to the end of a period of time The cold weather continued through the spring. He slept right through the day. The fighting went on all through the night.7 DEAL WITHprocess/experience from the beginning to the end of a process or experience The book guides you through the whole procedure of buying a house. When you have been through a terrible experience like that, it takes a long time to recover. It’s a miracle that these buildings came through the war undamaged.8 competitions past one stage in a competition to the next stagethrough to This is the first time they’ve ever made it through to the final. They didn’t even get through the first round of the contest.9 BECAUSEbecause of something because of something How many working days were lost through sickness last year?10 USE somethingby means of something/somebody by means of a particular method, service, person etc She got her first job through an employment agency. a success that was achieved through co-operative effort and wise leadership I heard about it through a friend.► see thesaurus at because 11 SCLparliament/congress if a proposal passes through a parliament, it is agreed and accepted as a law A special bill was rushed through Congress to deal with the emergency.12 → May through June/Wednesday through Friday etc13 → halfway through (something)14 telephone British EnglishTCT connected to someone by telephone I tried phoning you, but I couldn’t get through. Please hold the line and I’ll put you through.through to Did you manage to get through to her?15 → wet through/cooked through etc16 → through and through17 → through to London/Paris etc18 → get/go/run through something
Examples from the Corpus
through• He bought the tickets through a friend at the stadium.• Rabbits got into the backyard through a hole in the fence.• The bill's passage through Congress was not a smooth one.• Fill out this form before you pass through customs.• The bullet had passed through his right arm.• Hundreds of working days have been lost this year through illness.• The Community Association collapsed through lack of support.• Prices are generally lowest from January through March and highest June through August.• The store is open Monday through Saturday.• It was through sheer laziness that we didn't get our flight booked on time.• "When will you be away?" "The 17th through the 19th."• The two men fled through the back door and escaped from police.• Over the weekend, we took a leisurely drive through the countryside.• Janet needed a lot of support to make it through the death of her husband.• As the water passes through the filter, dirt is taken out.• Through the kitchen window, I saw the mailman walking up to the house.• The party continued through the night until dawn.• It will be several months before your newborn sleeps through the night.• The driver had gone straight through the traffic lights and hit an oncoming car.• Rescue workers searched through the wreckage for survivors.through to• Something is preventing the gas from flowing through to the engine.straight/right/clean through• Jen woke me up around eight that night, asking if I was going to sleep straight through.• He had his hands on her waist, could feel the warmth throbbing right through her sweater.• He looked at her, waved her back into the chair and went straight through into the kitchen.• I don't think I slept right through that whole week.• But where music has been a constant right through the ages, cinema has been a product of its time.• For six years we lived under the threat that the M18 could be driven straight through the centre.• The 2. 05 percent attrition rate the agency had managed to maintain promised to go straight through the roof.straight through• Jen woke me up around eight that night, asking if I was going to sleep straight through.• I assumed she could sleep straight through a coughing fit.• Metaphorically speaking, you could see straight through him to the other side of the room.• It troubles me that though I read Gibbons's book straight through, I never before noticed a surf clam.• For six years we lived under the threat that the M18 could be driven straight through the centre.• At C. Mellings, Printers and Stationers she went straight through the shop and upstairs, and into her father's room.• She walked straight through the sitting-room and out into the sunshine.• This means they can move straight through woods and debris and such like.see right through• I make it like you can see right through it.• And when the sun hits just right, you can actually see right through the loudspeakers.• Aiming your light down into it, you can see right through the membrane to the cell interior.• But because they looked like such retarded dunces, and women saw right through them.• Instead, you will see what there is to learn horn them-and then see right through them.• Above right: I can see right through you!• The women will see right through you.• We could see right through your crafty but loose Propaganda.straight through• Jen woke me up around eight that night, asking if I was going to sleep straight through.• I assumed she could sleep straight through a coughing fit.• Metaphorically speaking, you could see straight through him to the other side of the room.• It troubles me that though I read Gibbons's book straight through, I never before noticed a surf clam.• For six years we lived under the threat that the M18 could be driven straight through the centre.• At C. Mellings, Printers and Stationers she went straight through the shop and upstairs, and into her father's room.• She walked straight through the sitting-room and out into the sunshine.• This means they can move straight through woods and debris and such like.all through• When you've been through death and live again you're changed all through.• She fought the feeling all through Saturday, but by Sunday she had had enough.• The police piled into the borough all through the day.• Jaq had prayed all through the night and felt giddy but purified.• What's more, they're alive for home-field advantage all through the postseason.• Yes, but the principle repeats all through the system.• Our comment all through this has been that there were no names mentioned...get through• Patrons get through 200,000 bottles of champagne a year.• He gets through a couple of bottles a year for chromatography.• I will never know how I got through that day.• Parents who grapple with the problem from the start seem to get through the adjustments much better.• It took nearly two years to get through the formalities for the younger child.• Jody sees that the reporter did manage to get through to Dan Williams for a comment.• Textiles accounted for just over a third, after a slight increase that got through to profit.• Unlike Nelson, we got through without mishap.put ... through• Of course, the same result could be achieved without putting the bookkeeping through a Loans Fund.• Ernie put through a phone call to Rhonda.• Suzi Hoflin came in with two of her pupils and put Ingrid through a reasonable enough gypsy dance routine.• I put my children through college doing it.• He put it through the same drill as the knife.• At the till, worried parents are putting through the week's shopping.• It has been 3 years in which my family were put through things they never ever deserved to be put through.• If anything appears urgent from an operations standpoint, put it through to him.throughthrough2 adjective 1 → be through (with somebody/something)2 → through train3 → through roadExamples from the Corpus
through• After eight minutes Thompson caught the Middlesbrough defence square with a through ball.• The main door stood wide open making a through draught.• Until 1987 there were two separate train ferry operations for through freight traffic between Britain and the continent, Dover-Dunkerque and Harwich-Zeebrugge.• It dripped like a slow percolation through limestone, so slow that she forgot it between drops.• There is now a through route underground between Gaping Gill and Ingleborough Cave but only for brave men.• He said the new 16.52 Middlesbrough to Darlington service was in fact a through train to Bishop Auckland. 