through

preposition

\ ˈthrü

Definition of through

(Entry 1 of 3)

1a(1) —used as a function word to indicate movement into at one side or point and out at another and especially the opposite side of drove a nail through the board

(2) : by way of left through the door

(3) —used as a function word to indicate passage from one end or boundary to another a highway through the foresta road through the desert

(4) : without stopping for : past drove through a red light

b —used as a function word to indicate passage into and out of a treatment, handling, or process the matter has already passed through her hands

2 —used as a function word to indicate means, agency, or intermediacy: such as

a : by means of : by the agency of

b : because of failed through ignorance

c : by common descent from or relationship with related through their grandfather

3a : over the whole surface or extent of : throughout homes scattered through the valley

b —used as a function word to indicate movement within a large expanse flew through the air

c —used as a function word to indicate exposure to a specified set of conditions put him through hell

4 —used as a function word to indicate a period of time: such as

a : during the entire period of all through her life

b : from the beginning to the end of the tower stood through the earthquake

c : to and including Monday through Friday

5a —used as a function word to indicate completion or exhaustion got through the bookwent through the money in a year

b —used as a function word to indicate acceptance or approval especially by an official body got the bill through the legislature

through

adverb

\ ˈthrü

Definition of through (Entry 2 of 3)

1 : from one end or side to the other

2a : from beginning to end

b : to completion, conclusion, or accomplishment see it through

3 : to the core : completely soaked through

4 : into the open : out break through

through

adjective

\ ˈthrü

Definition of through (Entry 3 of 3)

1a : arrived at completion or accomplishment is through with the job

b : washed-up, finished

2a : admitting free or continuous passage : direct a through road

b : extending from one surface to another a through mortise

3a : initiated at and destined for points outside a local zone through traffic

b(1) : going from point of origin to destination without change or reshipment a through train

(2) : of or relating to such movement a through ticket

Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about through

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Synonyms & Antonyms for through

Synonyms: Preposition

amid (or amidst), among (also amongst), mid, midst

Synonyms: Adverb

around, over, round, throughout

Synonyms: Adjective

complete, completed, concluded, done, down, ended, finished, over, over with, terminated, up

Antonyms: Adjective

continuing, incomplete, ongoing, uncompleted, undone, unfinished

Examples of through in a Sentence

Preposition

He hit the nail through the wood. She looked through the binoculars. The bullet had gone through his hand. He just walked through the door. The security guards pushed their way through the crowd. She could see a figure through the fog. I looked through the window.

Adverb

Let these people go through, please. The nail went completely through. It snowed heavily, but we made it through. We'll never get through—the mud is too deep. The package was shipped through to New Orleans. Read the essay through and tell me what you think.

Adjective

When the police were through with him, a taxi took him, his suitcase, the homburg funeral hat, in the other direction … — Annie Proulx, Atlantic, November 1997 I tell him I like fanzines. This one's mad, he says, really mad. I can borrow it when he's through. — Lynne Tillman, Motion Sickness, 1991 Today though, once experience shows on a woman's face, she's through. — Patricia Volk, New Woman, November 1990 I'm not through yet. I have one more topic to discuss. If you're through using the phone, I'd like to use it next. Is this a through road? The left lane is for through traffic only.

Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb

Put the fish on the grill, cover and cook, flipping once halfway through, until opaque throughout, about 20 minutes. — Los Angeles Times, "Banana Leaf Grilled Fish With Habanero Beurre Blanc," 24 July 2019 Still, the reverence for his elder shone through, even as Bad Bunny padded his praise with in-jokes, irony and sarcasm. — Joe Coscarelli, New York Times, "How J Balvin and Bad Bunny Made Their Surprise Album, ‘Oasis’," 28 June 2019 About halfway through, the truck felt like the front end was falling apart, and engineers had to go through and tighten everything up. — Ezra Dyer, Popular Mechanics, "Chevy's New Silverado HD Trucks Are All About Towing," 25 June 2019 When West Germany took on Austria in their final group game of the 1982 World Cup, both sides knew a slender win for the former would take both through, as Algeria had already played their last pool fixture. — SI.com, "50 of the Biggest Controversies in Football History," 21 June 2019 The sponge-like holes in the outsole allow water to pass through and certainly help this process. — Jeremy Rellosa, Outside Online, "The Merrell Choprock Is My New Go-To Water Shoe," 20 July 2019 The Hollywood Girls Rowing Club has only been around for four years and the program is already reaping the rewards of success through hard work and dedication. — Emmett Hall, sun-sentinel.com, "Hollywood Girls Rowing Club making successful strides," 18 July 2019 Some training relationships that exhibit high potential will inevitably face exclusion while others that plainly deserve exclusion, whether because of ineffectiveness or active gaming of the system, will slip through. — Oren Cass, National Review, "What if We Paid Employers to Train Workers?," 17 July 2019 In one particularly egregious example about midway through, Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio actually climbs atop a bar and launches into an extended explanation of the film’s plot. — Mike Scott, nola.com, "‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ movie review: Fun, but far from perfect," 27 June 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective

To ease congestion along Mountain Road, the town plans to add a through lane in both the northbound and southbound directions, Sommer said. — Emily Brindley, courant.com, "West Hartford town council approves bike lane expansion on Mountain Road," 1 July 2019 Explorations of race and history have been a through line from his early works — his first and second novels, The Intuitionist and John Henry Days — to the present. — Mitchell S. Jackson, Time, "'I Carry It Within Me.' Novelist Colson Whitehead Reminds Us How America's Racist History Lives On," 27 June 2019 Approaching the intersection with Shore Road, Holguin pulled into the right-turn lane to pass traffic that was stopped in the through lane. — Bay City News, The Mercury News, "Motorcyclist killed on rural road south of Gilroy," 26 June 2019 Abraham chested the ball down midway in the Spurs half and, after escaping the challenge of Sanchez, poked a through ball in behind the defence towards Dyer. — SI.com, "WATCH: Christian Eriksen Brace Sees Dominant Tottenham Through to FA Cup Semi-Finals," 17 Mar. 2018 In a machine recount, all ballots across the state are re-fed through vote tabulators. — Arian Campo-flores, WSJ, "Florida Recount: How It Works," 9 Nov. 2018 Danny Rose gets a through ball on the left from Jordan Henderson and gets off a clean shot. — Andrew Das, New York Times, "England Shakes Its Shootout Curse and Saves Its World Cup," 5 July 2018 Bedoya sprung Burke with a through ball that split two Red Bulls defenders, and the Jamaican striker hit a cool, low shot. — Jonathan Tannenwald, Philly.com, "Haris Medunjanin, Cory Burke lead Union's 2-1 win over Red Bulls in U.S. Open Cup," 16 June 2018 Hernandez and Vela were through on goal but the latter couldn't quite find his compatriot with a through ball and Germany were able to recover to win back the ball. — Joe Marcovitch, Pro Soccer USA, "Germany 0-1 Mexico: Reigning champions stunned by magnificent El Tri in World Cup opener," 17 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'through.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.