▪ I. through, n.1 Obs. exc. Sc. and north. dial.
(θrʌx, θrʌf, θrʊf)
Forms: 1 thru(u)ch, throuch, 1–3 þruh, (1 þryh), 4 throuȝ, þrouhwe, 4–5 þrugh, þrouȝ, 4–6 throgh(e, 4–6 (9 Sc.) thrugh, 5 thrughe, throw(e, throh, 6 threwgh, Sc. throch, throwch, throuche, throcht, throucht, 7 throughe, 6– through; 6– Sc. throuch, (9 threuch, thruch, throoch, north. dial. thruff). β. 4 thoru, 5 thorow, thorw, thurwhe, thwrwe, thurgh, 6 thorgh, thorowgh, 7 thorough.
[OE. þr{uacu}h, a fem. cons. stem, oblique cases þr{yacu}h, cogn. with ON. þró fem. (pl. þrœ́r) a receptacle hollowed out, a tube, chest, trough, whence steinþró stone-chest, stone-coffin; cf. also OHG. drûha, truhâ (MHG. trûhe, truche, Ger. truhe), which agrees in sense, but not in the initial consonant: see Kluge Etymol. Wörterb.]
† 1. (Only in OE.) A trough, pipe, channel for water. [So ON. þró trough, watering trough.]
| a 700 Epinal Gloss. (O.E.T.) 1000 Tubo, thruu[c]h [Corpus ðruh, Erfurt thruch]. Ibid. 232 Caractis [cataractes], uua[e]terthruch [Corpus uueterþruh, Erfurt uaeterthrouch]. a 900 O.E. Martyrol. 2 Sept., Þa ᵹesomnodon þa sticceo hi in þa þruh, þurh þa þe þæt wæter fleow; þa ne meahte þæt wæter flowan. |
† 2. A hollow receptacle for a dead body; orig. perh. a stone cist or coffin; hence a coffin generally, e.g. of wood; also a grave, tomb, sepulchre. Obs.
| a 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. iv. xiv. [xi.] (1890) 296 Þa wæs se lichoma sponne lengra þære þryh. c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 216 Tweᵹen ᵹelyfede men..bebyriᵹdon his lic ær æfene, on niwere ðryh. Ibid. II. 262 Þa ᵹeðafode Pilatus þæt hi..ða ðruh ᵹe-innseᵹelodon. c 1275 Passion of our Lord 511 in O.E. Misc. 51 Ioseph..hyne leyde in one þruh of stone. a 1300 Cursor M. 24637 (Edin.) Al til his þruh þai þrang. 13.. Ibid. 17288 + 13 (Cott.) Our lord opend not his throgh when he ros at morne. 13.. Guy Warw. (A.) 7306 + st. 296 Þay tok a þrouȝ of marbel ston, & leyd his bodi þer-in anon. 13.. Propr. Sanct. 179 (Vernon MS.) in Herrig Archiv LXXXI. 83 On domus-day, Al vre þrouhwes þen schul ouerþrowe. c 1400 Laud Troy Bk. 15570 Now he is ded & lith In throw [rime now]. c 1410 Chron. Eng. (Ritson) 747 Ant leggen in a throh of ston. 1483 Cath. Angl. 386/2 A Thrughe (A. Throghe), mauseolum..cippus;..vbi a grawe. |
| β 13.. Cursor M. 17390 (Cott.) Þan þai badd be-for ham call Þat gett [v.r. kepte] þe thoru þe knightes all. c 1400 Trevisa's Higden (Rolls) VII. 535 (MS. β) On caas ȝe mowe kepe my body..lay hit in a thorow [MS. γ, þrouȝ] of stoon and heleth hit with a lidde of lede. a 1450 Thurghis [see thro a.1 1 b]. |
3. A large slab of stone, etc. laid upon a tomb; a flat grave-stone or grave-cover; also, a table gravestone resting on feet. (See through-stone1.)
| a 1350 St. Nicholas 384 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 16 Enterd he was in toumbe of stone And a marble thrugh laid him opon. 1523 Test. Ebor. (Surtees) V. 174 To lay oppon my body & Alicie my wif a conveniente thrughe of stone. 1560 in Edinb. Burgh Rec. 62 To reparrall the kirk, to lay the throwchis thairof of new and sparge the samyn. 1593 Rites of Durham (Surtees 1903) 15 Two lyons..artificially wrought and sett forth all in brasse marueilously beautifyinge the said through of marble. 1606 [see thortersome]. 1630 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 185 Through the ignorance or negligence of the sexton or others,..the throughs and flaggs have been brooke, and once taken up never so well laid downe. a 1663 Bp. Bramhall Will, I to be buried in the middle alley within the churche of Alhallowes in Pontefracte under the greate blewe through at the end of the Maior and Aldresses stall. 1777 Bothkennar Par. Reg. 8 July, in N. & Q. 9th Ser. II. 237/1 John Simpson, tenant in Crofthead, hath 2 lairs with throughs in the churchyard of Bothkennar. 1804 Stagg Misc. Poems (1808) 4 Then great Job Bruff gat on a thruff. 1864 W. Chambers Hist. Peebles. 295 Throuchs or flat table-like stones. |
▪ II. through, n.2
see throuch.
▪ III. through, n.3
(θruː)
Also 8–9 dial. thruff (θrʌf).
[f. through adv. or adj., sometimes due to ellipsis of a n.]
1. = thorough n. 2. dial.
| 1778 W. H. Marshall Minutes Agric. 10 June an. 1777, Mixes it with the sand and marl, which is thrown out in making their elaborate thruffs,—or sub-drains. |
2. = through-stone2.
| 1805 [see through-stone2]. 1828 Craven Gloss., Thruff, a bond stone, or thorough stone. 1846 Brockett N.C. Words s.v. Thruff-stone, These walls being composed of fragments of all shapes and sizes, without mortar, the ‘thruffs’ are used as bond-stones and give great stability. 1892 J. T. Bent Ruined Cities Mashonaland iv. 97 Most of them [the stones] run back into the wall irregularly, acting in the same way as throughs in our dry-built walls. |
3. A ladder-rung that goes through the sides. local.
| 1899 N. & Q. 9th Ser. III. 76/2 Ladders are often made with three or four flat bars, longer than the rounded ones, and projecting sufficiently on each side to admit a wooden peg... These are called flat rungs, sometimes ‘throughs’ (thrufs.). |
▪ IV. through, a.
(θruː)
[attrib. use of through adv., primarily used with verbal ns., nouns of action, agent-nouns, and the like, derived from vbs. qualified by the adv., or with ellipsis of a pple. of such a verb, as in through (going) way; afterwards in various extended or transferred uses.]
1. a. That passes, extends, or affords passage through something. (See also thorough a. 1; through- 2.)
spec. Of a bolt, rivet, etc.: Passing through the whole thickness of that in which it is fixed: see also through-bolt s.v. through- 2; in Carpentry, of a housing: running through the whole thickness of the member, not stopped. through bridge: see quot. 1877. through lights: see thorough-light.
| 1523 [see through-serewe, -spavin in through- 2]. a 1578 [see through-passage]. 1596 Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 614/1 Was there not a through way then made by the swoord for the imposing of lawes uppon them? 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. ii. ii. §14 The opennesse and through passage of the world..were appointed to be in the same ages. 1865 Once a Week 10 June 679/1 Building houses back to back without any ‘through’ ventilation. 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., Through-bridge, one in which the track rests on the lower stringer, in contradistinction to a deck-bridge. 1889 Welch Text Bk. Naval Archit. iv. 74 The rivets are of two kinds, through (or clenched) and tap. 1934 [see stopped ppl. a. 9]. 1979 A. B. Emary Woodworking iii. 18 (caption) Through housing. |
b. That goes, extends, or conveys through the whole of a long distance or journey without interruption, or without change; as a through train, through booking, through carriage, through passenger, through line of railway, through fare, through ticket. through traffic: (a) rail traffic continuing through to a further destination; (b) road traffic which passes through a particular town, etc., rather than stopping there.
| 1845 Boston (Mass.) Transcript 29 Nov. 3/2 Through tickets may be obtained for Montreal. 1846 Boston (Mass.) Traveller 2 July, Through trains from Boston. 1848 Amer. Railroad Jrnl. 29 July 482/1 A through passenger in the 9 and 4½ o'clock lines, pays more than $1.25, for each of those parts of the line. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-Bks. (1872) I. 1 Having taken through tickets to Paris by way of Folkestone and Boulogne. 1861 Jefferson Davis Message to Confederate Congress Amer. 18 Nov., The construction of this..line would give us a through route from North to South. 1861 Sat. Rev. 7 Sept. 236 The through traffic to Scotland has been carried on by eight independent Companies. 1869 Bradshaw's Railway Man. XXI. 43 Through-booking arrangements with the Scottish North Eastern. 1884 Gt. West. Railw. Time Tables July 10 The direct Through Trains between Aldgate and Richmond. 1890 Daily News 12 Nov. 7/2 Any railway to which there is through booking from Aldershot. 1891 S. Weyman New Rector I. iii. 28 Oh, dear, they are in a through carriage... I would rather go in another carriage and change. 1893 Earl Dunmore Pamirs I. 83 A few merchants carry on a through trade between India and Turkestan. 1905 Sat. Rev. 21 Oct. 522/2 What with the through travellers and the..traffic, there was no lack of variety. 1944 Sun (Baltimore) 16 Feb. 9/1 A mid-town express highway as a through-traffic route. 1961 Through-traffic [see route v.]. 1976 Alyn & Deeside Observer 10 Dec. 1/6 The new by-pass will provide an additional crossing of the River Dee that will enable much through traffic to avoid the city. 1978 O. S. Nock Great Western 110 In such conditions the through carriage was an inestimable boon. |
c. Of an organ-stop: Extending through the whole compass of the keyboard.
| 1881 C. A. Edwards Organs 146 All the foundation..stops of a really good organ should be through stops. |
† 2. Going through or affecting the whole of something: = thorough a. 2. Obs.
through coal, or through and through coal, coal as it comes from the pit, i.e. large and small mixed indiscriminately.
| 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 80 That thei might..haue a through sight in it. 1581 Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 49 From a through beholding the worthines of the subiect. 1607 Hieron Wks. I. 462 To speake of a true and through reformation. 1647 Clarendon Hist. Reb. iii. §211 There was not a Grievance..to which there was not a through Remedy applied. 1696 Vanbrugh Relapse Epil. 22 You never saw a through republican a finish'd beau. 1710 Prideaux Orig. Tithes ii. 69 If on through search and examination they were approved of. |
▪ V. through, v. Sc. rare. ? Obs.
[f. through prep. and adv.: cf. thorough v.1]
1. trans. To carry through, put through, carry into effect. Hence ˈthroughing vbl. n.
| 1638 R. Baillie Lett. & Jrnls. (1841) I. 74 His father's throughing of Perth articles. 1716 Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 172, I am mistaken if this way they get their design throughed. |
2. intr. To get through; to succeed. to make to through, to make good, prove.
| 1786 Burns Brigs of Ayr 175 Faith ye've said enough, And muckle mair than ye can mak to through. 1863 Janet Hamilton Poems & Ess. 56 We've throught weel and thrivin this mony a year. |
▪ VI. through, prep. and adv.
(θruː)
From c 1700, abbreviated thro'; in 15–18th c., without ', thro. Forms: see below.
[OE. ðurh, þurh, Northumb. ðerh, a Common WGer. prep. and adv.: cf. OFris. (from *thurch) thruch, truch (WFris. troch, NFris. truch, troch); OS. thurh, thuru, *thurih (MLG. dorch, dörch, dor, dör, LG. dör, dôr, MDu. door, dōre, döre, deur, dor, dur, Du. door); OHG. duruh, durih, duri, dur (MHG. durch, dürch, dur, dür, Ger. durch, dial. dur, dör). Not in Scandinavian; in Gothic with different ablaut grade þairh (= þerh); prob. cases of a n., belonging to a pre-Teut. ablaut-series *terk-, tork-, trk- to bore: cf. Goth. þairkô hole, and OHG. durhil, MHG. dürchel, dürkel, OE. *þyrhil, þyrel bored, perforated: cf. thirl n. OE. þurh with full stress became þuruh, now thorough, as burh has become borough, furh furrow, etc.; when unstressed and proclitic, þurh became þŭr, and with metathesis þrŭh, þrŭ, throŭ, thrŏ. The unstressed forms naturally prevailed in proclitic prepositional use, and the stressed in the adverb, and its derived adj. and n. But with the restressing of the prep. thrŭ as through (θruː), this form has also become possible as an adverb, while on the other hand the stressed thorough also survives as an archaic form of the preposition beside the normal through. Thurf is an early phonetic development of þurh, and thruf a more recent one of þruh, similar to (rʌf) for rough, dwarf from dwergh, (bɑːf) for Bargh, (brʊf) for Burgh (place-names), (ɪˈnʌf) for enough, (θɒf) for though, etc. The metathesis of þruh for þurh occurs already c 1300 in a s.w. text; but otherwise in ME. is usually northern. From Caxton onwards it was the standard English form.
See Note under thorough prep. and adv.]
A. Illustration of Forms.
For disyllabic forms þureh, þuruh, þurow, etc.: see thorough.
(α) 1 þurᵹ (þerh), 1–3 þorh (1 þorch), 1–4 þurh, 2–4 þurch, 3 Orm. þurrh, 3–4 þurȝ, þorȝ, thurȝ, 3–5 þurgh, 4 þorgh, þorghe, þourh, þourȝ, (þour), 4–5 þourgh, thourgh, thurghe, thorgh, 4–6 thurgh, 5 thorȝ, þurȝe, þourȝe, (thour), Sc. thourch. Also 3 þurþ, þorþ, 4 þurth, þurȝth, 5 thourth, (dorth); 4–5 thurght, thorght, 5 þurght.
(Final þ, ð, is frequently a scribal error for final ȝ, and th a copyist's error for ch; in Scotch t was often added to -ch, -gh, or -th.)
| a 700 Epinal Gloss. (O.E.T.) 741 Per seudoterum, þorh ludgaet. Ibid. 757 Per anticipationem, þorch [Erfurt dorh] obst. a 800 Cynewulf Elene 289 Þurh witᵹena wordᵹeryno. a 900 Þurh [see B. I. 7 b]. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Mark xv. 10 Ðerh æfist [Rushw. ðærh æfeste] ᵹesaldon hine. c 1000 Fates 12 Apostles 13 (Gr.) Þurᵹ Nerones nearo-searwe. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. ibid., Ðurh andan hine sealdon. a 1175 Cott. Hom. 223 Ealle þing ȝeworhcte god þurch his worda. a 1200 Moral Ode 282 Þe suneȝe þurð sihte. c 1200 Þurrh [see B. I. 7]. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 681, & regnede þritti ȝer wel þor [v.rr. þoru, þurgh, thorugh, þrough] alle þinge. 13.. Cursor M. 11070 (Gött.) All þe cunthre thurght. c 1350 Will. Palerne 4219 Þourh ȝour help. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 310 Þurȝ ryalmes so mony. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. i. 32 Thorw [C. Thorgh] wyn and þorw women þere was Loth acombred. 1393 Ibid. C. xxi. 399 So þat þorgh gyle was geten, þorwe grace is now y-wonne. c 1380 Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 392 Þourȝ Samarie and þe cuntre of Galile. c 1386 Chaucer Frankl. T. 137 Eterne god that thurgh [v.rr. thour, þurgh, þourgh, þoruhe] thy purueiance Ledest the world. c 1410 Thourh [see B. II. 5 b]. c 1425 Seven Sag. (P.) 522 Thourth the emperours commandement. c 1440 Thorgh [see B. I. 2]. c 1450 Merlin ii. 32 He hadde resceyved deth thourgh me. c 1460 Launfal 1031 The lady rod dorth Cardevyle. c 1460 Thourth; 1521 Thurgh [see B. II. 1; B. I. 1]. |
(β) 3 þruh, 4 þrouȝ, 5 þroughe, throwȝe, thruȝ, thrughe, (drogh, trogh), 5–6 thrugh, throughe, 5–7 throgh, 6 throwgh(e, 5– through (8– abbrev. thro'); 4– thru, Sc. thrw, threu, threw, 4–7 (chiefly Sc.) throu, 4–8 (–9 Sc. or dial.) throw, 5 þro, 5– thro, 6 throwe, Sc. throuw; Sc. 4–6 throuch, 6 thruch, thrwch, throwch, 7 throche, 8 throch; 5 throght, (troght), 5–6 Sc. throcht, 6 thruȝht, Sc. thrucht, throucht.
thru: now used informally as a reformed spelling and abbreviation (chiefly) in N. Amer.
| ? a 1300 Prayer to Virgin 8 in O.E. Misc. (1872) 195 Bote þu þruh þin milde mod bringe me out of sunne. Ibid. 19. 13.. Thru, throu [see B. I. 1 b, 7 b]. c 1350 Will. Palerne 459 Mi wicked eyiȝen..lad myn hert þrouȝ loking þis langour to drye. 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 137 Throuch thar aller hale assent. Ibid. 533 Destroyit throw pwsoune. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints x. (Mathou) 52 Thrw sorcery & felone gyle. Ibid. xiii.2 (Marcus) 49 Threw þe schewynge Of þe ewangele. Ibid. xxvi. (Nycholas) 806 Blyndyt threu gret cowatise. c 1400 Sowdone Bab. 2526 He..hade pardon Throgh prayere and specialle grace. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1129 Thrugh lemys of light. Ibid. 4977 Þro mony long chaumburs. c 1425 Eng. Conq. Irel. 18 The gret peril that myght be-fall hym..drogh the owt-comen folk þat was thus in-to the land I-com. Ibid. 26 Trogh al thynge. Ibid. 28 That thou ne hast y-done troght some grete lette. c 1470 Henry Wallace viii. 709 Trocht falsheid, and thar subtilite. 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop v. viii, The serpent..slewe the child through his venym. 1487–8 Throwȝe [see B. I. 4]. c 1489 Thrughe [see B. I. 1 h]. a 1500 Cokwolds Daunce 105 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 43 Ffor that was thruȝht a chans. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xlii. 81 Thrucht Skornes noss thai put a prik. 1500–20 Throucht [see B. I. 3]. 1508 ― Gold. Targe 28 Doun throu the ryce a ryuir ran. 1533 Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) 396 Such merchunds..as cum throw Oxmantown. 1545–7 in Archæologia XXXIV. 41 Throwgh the weke. 1596 Throuch [see B. II. 4]. 1674 Brevint Saul at Endor 140 [He] may fall..thro a broken bridge. a 1679 Hobbes Rhet. (1681) Pref., Throu the working of Belief. 1709 Prior Despairing Shepherd i, Wand'ring thro' the lonely Rocks. 1724 Ramsay Vision i, Throch feidom, our freedom Is blotit with this skore. a 1758 ― Bonny Tweedside i, I'll awa' to bonny Tweed side, And see my deary come throw. 1878 W. Whitman Daybks. & Notebks. (1978) I. 122 Sent piece ‘Three Young Men's Deaths' $12 to Mr John Frazer, Tobacco Plant, Liverpool—thro Josiah Child. 1879, etc. [see though adv. and conj. A. γ]. 1904 R. Garnett Let. in A. Mizener Ford Madox Ford (1971) ix. 96 If Conrad..paid {pstlg}3 a week thro Pinker it would be a very considerable help. 1917 E. E. Cummings Let. c Nov. (1969) 40, I see the thing thru, alone. 1921 Jrnl. Nat. Dental Assoc. VIII. 609/1 As we look thru our daily papers and our magazines. 1971 Black World Mar. 57/1 When she wuz little and she had stuttered thru a sentence. 1977 Hot Car Oct. 11/1 Available for S types right thru to Mk 10s it retails for 26 notes. |
(γ) 3–4 þurf, 3–6 thurf, 8–9 (dial.) thruff.
| c 1290 St. Brendan 149 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 223 Þurf oure louerdes grace. a 1300 Fragm. Pop. Sc. (Wright) l. 11 Thurf dai & thurf niȝt. a 1500 Childe of Bristowe 520 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 129 Thurf your good he is save. a 1800 Pegge Suppl. Grose, Thruff and thruff, i.e. through and through. Derb. 1864 Tennyson North. Farmer, Old Style xi, I..runn'd plow thruff it an' all. 1888 Fenn Dick o' Fens 153 Go thruff yon reed-bed home. |
B. Signification. I. prep. The preposition expressing the relation of transition or direction within something from one limit of it to the other: primarily in reference to motion in space, hence in various derived senses.
1. a. From one end, side, or surface to the other or opposite end, side, or surface of (a body or a space) by passing within it; usually implying into, at one end, side, etc. and out of at the other.
(Expressing movement (or extension) either so as to penetrate the substance of a thing, or along a passage or opening already existing in it.) With various vbs. of motion forming prepositional phrases: cf. pass v. 58 a, run v. 12–15, etc.
| a 700 [see A.α]. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. vii. 13 Inngeonges ðerh nearuo port. c 1000 ibid., Gangað inn þurh þæt nearwe ᵹeat. c 1400 Destr. Troy 4977 Led were þo lordes þro mony long chaumburs..þurgh mony gay Alys. 1446 Registr. Aberdon. (Maitl. Cl.) I. 245 A lonyng lyand þrow the mur betwix twa ald stane dykes. 1490 Caxton Eneydos xv. 60 Fyres..sodaynly sente throughe the cloudes in grete tempeste and murmure. 1521 Fisher Wks. (1876) 315 To condyth that people thurgh the deserte. 1557 N. T. (Genev.) John iv. 4 He must nedes go through [1526 Tindale thorowe] Samaria. 1605 Camden Rem. 193 An extreame cold winde passed throgh his sides. 1708 Constit. Watermen's Co. xl, If any person Row..through London-Bridge, on the Flood-Tide. 1758 Johnson Idler No. 15 ¶2 Sauntering about the Shop with her arms through her pocket-holes. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxxii, George..was lying..dead, with a bullet through his heart. Mod. There is a path through the wood. |
b. Denoting transmission of light, or of sight, by an aperture or a transparent medium; also fig. (See also look v. 20, see v. 24.)
| 13.. Cursor M. 11229 (Gött.) Þe sune beme gas thru [Cott. thoru] þe glas. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 217 Thurgh a wyndow..He cast his eye vpon Emelya. 1640 Nabbes Bride iii. ii, A pigmie that cannot be discerned but through a multiplying glas. 1704 Pope Disc. Past. Poetry §5 Piety to the Gods should shine through the Poem. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xvi, These instances of cunning, which she thought impenetrable, yet which everybody saw through. 1852 Dickens Bleak Ho. viii, Mrs. Pardiggle..had been regarding him through her spectacles. |
(b) through-the-lens adj., used with reference to light measurement in which it is the light passing through the lens of the camera that is measured (the same light that would form the image).
| 1965 Focal Encycl. Photogr. (rev. ed.) I. 554/1 Through-the-lens exposure measurement has the advantage..that the meter cell receives light from exacly the same subject field as is taken in by the lens. 1977 J. Hedgecoe Photographer's Handbk. 14/3 Solid state through-the-lens metering, zoom lenses, motor-drive, are all part of an ever-widening ‘system’ built around the single lens reflex body. 1984 What Video? Aug. 59/2 Fair picture, basic colour temperature controls, through-the-lens viewfinder. |
c. In reference to a (more distant or fainter) sound heard simultaneously with another (nearer or louder) which does not ‘drown’ it or prevent it from reaching the ear.
| 1819 Keats Isabella xxxvi, Languor there was in it, and tremulous shake,..And through it moan'd a ghostly under⁓song. 1847 Tennyson Princess iv. 554 Thy voice is heard thro' rolling drums. |
d. In reference to the passages traversed by the breath in the production and modification of vocal sound, as to speak through the throat, the nose, etc.
| 1588, 1741, 1850 [see nose n. 3]. 1668 O. Price Eng. Orthographie 16 Gh soundes now like h, in Almighty, although [etc.]. Note, But the Ancients did, as the Welch, & Scots do still pronounce gh, thorow the throat. |
e. With pl. (or collective) n., expressing passage between or among things so as to penetrate the whole mass or body of them (without penetrating the individual things); through between. See also 2, and cf. through other.
| 1535, 1684 [see thorough B. I. 1 d]. 1709 Prior Despairing Sheph. i, Wand'ring thro' the lonely Rocks. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 327 ¶6 [Raphael's] Flight thro' the Choirs of Angels is finely imaged. 1852 R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour (1893) 85 He was small and wiry, with legs that a pig could run through. 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 204 The slippery savage..was bounding through the trees. Mod. Walking through the long grass. |
f. In phr. through (one's) hands, through a machine, etc., referring to something being handled, manufactured, subjected to some process, or dealt with in any way. (See also mill n.1 1 b.)
| c 1320 Sir Beues (A.) 1035 Erst þow schelt pase þourȝ min hond. 1630 R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 346 They are able in one day to make two hundred Harquibushes..although there be no Harquebush that goeth through lesse than ten hands at the least. 1641 in Cochran-Patrick Rec. Coinage Scotl. (1876) I. Introd. 31 They would putt 1000 stane [of copper] throw the yrons in the yeire. 1709 Bagford in MS. Rawl. Lett. 21, lf. 8 All of them from y⊇ Bookes themselues which haue run throw my handes. 1815 Scott Guy M. xxxix, I had her through hands once, and could then make little of her. 1874 Green Short Hist. vii. §6. 408 Plot and approval alike passed through Walsingham's hands. Mod. It has passed through many hands since then. |
g. In various directly figurative applications: e.g. (a) referring to the action upon the ears or nerves of a loud, shrill, harsh, or ‘piercing’ sound; (b) implying the overcoming of hindrance or obstruction (see also break v. 56); (c) indicating connexion or transmission by an intermediate thing (or person) or a series of such, etc.
to pay through the nose: see nose n. 11. through thick and thin: see thick and thin.
| 1543 [see thick and thin A. 1]. 1581–1680 [see thorough B. I. 1 f]. 1647 May Hist. Parl. ii. vi. 127 Your Parliament, whose..undiscouraged endeavours.. have passed thorow difficulties unheard of. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xxx, The circumstances of my unfortunate son broke through all efforts to dissemble. a 1784 Johnson in Boswell an. 1737 Knowledge of the world, fresh from life, not strained through books. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 526 John Ayloffe, a lawyer connected by affinity with the Hydes, and through the Hydes, with James. |
h. through and through: repeatedly through; so as to penetrate both sides or surfaces of; right through, entirely through. Also fig. (Cf. II. 5.)
| 13.. [see thorough B. I. 1 g]. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xiv. 346 He shoved his swerde thrughe & thrughe his body. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado v. i. 68 Thy slander hath gone through and through her heart. a 1716 South Serm. (1842) I. 321 His infinite, all-searching knowledge, which looks through and through the most secret of our thoughts. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 227 He broke through and through them. 1745 P. Thomas Voy. S. Seas 281 Our second Shot..went thro' and thro' her upper Works. 1932 H. S. Walpole Fortress iii. 562 The mist immediately surrounding him was..so wetting that he was already soaked through and through his clothes. |
i. After an auxiliary verb, with ellipsis of go. Cf. II. 6; through v. 2.
| 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 85 If a mans iourney lieth so, that he must nedes through the Forrest. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. x. 26 You vile abhominable Tents,..Ile through, and through you. |
2. Of motion or direction within the limits of; along within; as in 1, 1 e, but not necessarily implying the traversing of the whole extent from end to end.
| c 1050 Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia (1885) VIII. 298 Þurh þæne yrnð seo sunne. a 1300 Cursor M. 23412 (Edin.) Al þat þe withstandand es Thurȝ sal [þou] þirle wit sweftnes. c 1440 Pallad. on Husb. vi. 36 A forgh iij footes deep thy londes thorgh. 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. v. ii. 38 As he in pennance wander'd through the Forrest. 1667 Milton P.L. ii. 663 The Night-Hag..riding through the Air. 1787 Winter Syst. Husb. 82 Clouds, which being heavier than the air, of course fall thro' it. 1818 Shelley Sonnet ‘Lift not the painted veil’ 11 Through the unheeding many he did move, A splendour among shadows. 1819 Keats Eve St. Agnes i, The hare limp'd trembling through the frozen grass. 1903 Times 14 Mar. 14/5 The Oxonians showed good form through choppy water. |
3. a. Over or about the whole extent of, all over (a surface); so as to traverse or penetrate every part or district of; in or to all parts of (a region, or a body); throughout; everywhere in. (See also run v. 68 d.)
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke xxiii. 5 He astyrað þis folc lærende þurh ealle iudeam. 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 243 Al stouned at his steuen..þurȝ þe sale riche. c 1350 Old Usages Winchester in Eng. Gilds (1870) 359 Lat crye þe ban þorghe þe town þe þridde day by-fore þe selynge. c 1450 Merlin i. 10, I sought thourgh my chamber. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxiv. 14 Leif creuelte..Or throucht the warld quyte losit is ȝour name. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iii. iii. 13 We will make thee famous through the World. 1659 Termes de la Ley 146 b/2 That there should be but one scantling of weights and measures through all the Realm. 1727–46 Thomson Summer 1168 And Thule bellows through her utmost isles. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. vii. 260 Minute particles diffused through the atmosphere. |
b. Placed after the n. arch., poet.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 11070 Noght allan ierusalem burgh, Bot elles al þe contre thurgh [v.rr. thurght, thorogh, þourȝe]. Ibid. 11824 Þe fester thrild his bodi thurgh [rime scurf]. 1556 Robinson More's Utop. Shorte Meter (Arb.) 167 Platoes citie, Whose flame flieth the worlde throughe. a 1635, 1802 [see thorough B. I. 3]. 1851 Mrs. Browning Casa Guidi Wind. ii. 266 A cry is up in England, which doth ring The hollow world through. |
† c. Phr. through all thing [cf. F. partout]: in every point, in all respects, thoroughly. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 10966 Ich sugge þe þurh alle þing, ich sloh Asclepidiot. c 1290 Beket 252 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 113 Euere he was chaste þoruȝ alle þing. 1297, c 1380 [see thorough B. I. 3 b]. c 1425 Eng. Conq. Irel. 26 A man full queynt, trow trogh al thynge, & stalwarth. |
4. a. During the whole of (a period of time, or an action, etc., with reference to the time it occupies from beginning to end). See also get v. 48 c.
| a 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) lxxiii[i]. 21 [22] Þurh ealne dæᵹ [tota die]. a 1250 Owl & Night. 447 (Cott.) And ich so do þurȝ niȝt and dai. 1487–8 Rec. St. Mary at Hill 141 On euery sonday throwȝe þe yer. 1581 Allen Apol. 74 Al the Churches of Christ through al ages. 1593 Shakes. Lucr. 718 Through the length of times he stands disgraced. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 846 Thus Adam..lamented..Through the still Night. 1779 Mirror No. 37 ¶5 The same sanguine temperament of mind which..has attended him through life. 1861 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. (1883) III. 81 A brass band plays all through our breakfast. 1896 T. F. Tout Edw. I, iv. 80 All through his reign, the Lusignans helped him in Gascony. |
b. Placed after a n.; esp. preceded by all.
| 1535 [see thorough B. I. 4]. 1864 Mrs. Gatty Parab. fr. Nat. Ser. iv. 5 He was seldom seen without one [a flower] in his button-hole all the summer through. 1872 A. de Vere Leg. St. Patrick, Disbelief Milcho 32 Fireless sits he, winter through. 1873 Black Pr. Thule iii, It will be like this all the night through. |
5. a. From beginning to end of; in or along the whole length or course of (an action, an experience, a piece of work, etc.; also of a discourse, a book, etc.). See also get v. 48, go v. 63, pass v. 58 b, run v. 68.
| c 1449 [see thorough B. I. 5]. 1578 Timme Caluine on Gen. 326, I may not runne through vncertain speculations. 1766 Goldsm. Vic. W. xiv, I had..put my horse through all his paces. 1774 Mitford Ess. Harmony Lang. 93, I can⁓not find any thing like [it]..thro the whole essay. 1831 Macaulay Let. in Trevelyan Life (1876) I. iv. 233, I should have liked to have sat through so tremendous a storm. 1886 A. Sergeant No Saint I. vi. 105 An old land surveyor..put him through a long catechism. |
b. with emphasis on the intervening or intermediate stage or condition. (Leading on to 7.) Also used in sequences or lists, without necessarily denoting consecutive development.
| 1671 Milton P.R. i. 5 Obedience fully tri'd Through all temptation. 1818 Moore Fudge Fam. Paris vi. 103 They graduate Through job, red ribbon, and silk gown, To Chancellorship and Marquisate. 1837 Dickens Pickw. lvii, Mr. Bob Sawyer, having previously passed through the Gazette, passed over to Bengal. 1870 W. Morris Earthly Par. iii. Story Rhodope 20 The brown plain..Changed year by year through green to hoary gold. 1881 Stanley Chr. Instit. vii. (1882) 131 In the new crisis through which the world was to pass. 1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling xi. 110 His wares included the necessities and scanty luxuries of the whole country-side, from plows, wagons, buggies and implements, through food staples to whiskey and hardware, dry goods and notions and medicines. 1962 Listener 26 July 130/2 Rents range from just over {pstlg}3 a month for a small flat, through about {pstlg}14 for a two-bedroom house, to {pstlg}23 for the most elegant apartments. 1975 Nature 10 Apr. 501/2 Nine recognised glaze types, ranging in colour from pale blue, through green, to yellow, brown and red. |
c. with emphasis laid upon the completion: To the end of. (Leading on to 6.)
| 1628 [see thorough B. I. 5]. 1744 Berkeley Siris §2 Seven children, who came all very well through the small⁓pox. 1824 New Monthly Mag. X. 19, I never could read through the Nouvelle Heloïse. 1843 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. (1883) I. 253, I seemed to be got pretty well through my sewing. Mod. When shall you get through your task? He has got through ‘Smalls’. |
d. U.S. Up to (a date, a number, a specified item, etc.) inclusively, up to the end of, up to and including, to, until; often correlative to from.
| 1798 T. Holcroft Jrnl. 4 Aug. in Mem. (1816) III. 31 Continued the opera through scene 9, Act 3. 1930 H. Brown (title) Rabelais in English literature through Sterne. 1932 Atlantic Monthly May 538 Mr. Heffernan was mayor for four years, from 1927 through 1931. 1942 M. Kraitchik Math. Recreations vi. 130 Poisson calculated this probability, taking into account the cards dealt in the first hand. His result does not differ through the third decimal place. 1950 H. Craig Hist. Eng. Lit. 250 Spenser treats of England from the Reformation through the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 1967 N.Y. Times (Internat. ed.) 11 Feb. 1/6 At a background briefing early in November, the American command made available infiltration figures covering the year through Sept. 30 and a rough estimate for October. 1971 Physics Bull. Dec. 738/1 In the review copy pages 1469 through 1472 are already loose which does not say too much for the quality of the binding. 1977 Time 8 Aug. 19/3 We will continue to govern through the end of our term. 1981 L. Deighton XPD xliii. 342 A..notice stating that deliveries were only accepted between eight and eleven Monday through Friday. |
6. Indicating a position or point ultimately reached. (Usually in predicate, after verb to be.) Cf. II. 3. a. lit. At a point beyond, or at the further end of. b. fig. Having reached the end of (a course of action, a book, etc.); having finished, completed, or done with. c. In reference to an examination, to be through is to have passed.
| 1791 Jefferson Writ. (1896) V. 330, I think I can be through them [a bundle of letters] by the end of the week. 1791 Burns Tam O'Shanter 93 By this time he was cross the ford..And thro' the whins, and by the cairn. 1801 tr. Gabrielli's Myst. Husb. II. 267 They stopped at an inn nearly through the town. 1804 Southey in Life (1850) II. 262, I am half through the poem. 1894 Outing (U.S.) XXIV. 428/2 You may as well tell him that you're through taking lessons. Mod. Is he through his examination? |
7. a. Indicating medium, means, agency, or instrument: By means of; by the action of, by (obs. or arch.) Now spec. By the instrumentality of.
| a 800 [see A. α]. c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xvii. 1 Wæ ðæm ðerh ðone hia cymes. c 1000 Fates 12 Apostles 63 (Gr.) We þæt ᵹehyrdon þurh haliᵹe bec. 1154 O.E. Chron. an. 1132 (Laud), Þurh Godes milce & þurh þe biscop of Seresberi. c 1200 Ormin 13254 Ȝa þurrh fulluhht, ȝa þurrh hannd⁓gang Att hadedd manness hande. 1258 Proclam. Hen. III 12 Oct., Henry thurȝ godes fultome king on Engleneloande. c 1305 Pilate 89 in E.E.P. (1862) 113 He huld him bitrayd þurf felonie. 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 137 Throuch þar aller hale assent, Messingeris till hym þai sent. 1475 Bk. Noblesse (Roxb.) 16 A grete navy..ovyrcom throw myghty fyghtyng. 1579 W. Wilkinson Confut. Familye of Loue B iij, Abell was slayne..through the handes of his brother Cain. 1763 J. Brown Poetry & Mus. vii. 151 This Event happened..thro' the Authority of the thirty Tyrants. 1793 Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 153 The answer given to Monsieur Lesardier was through a young gentleman. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. vi. II. 123 [He] could not prevent the national sentiment from expressing itself through the pulpit and the press. 1883 Sir N. Lindley in Law Rep. 11 Q. Bench Div. 572 The..Society..seeks to do through him that which it cannot otherwise do. 1885 Act 48 & 49 Vict. c. 53 §15 Every notice..sent through the post in a prepaid registered letter. |
† b. Indicating the agent, after a passive verb: = by prep. 33. Obs.
| a 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. i. ix, Seo herᵹung wæs þurh Alaricum..ᵹeworden. 971 Blickl. Hom. 9 Heofonrices duru..sceal þonne þurh þe ontened beon. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxvi. 24 Wa þam menn þurh þone þe byþ mannes sunu be-læwed. 13.. Cursor M. 20909 (Cott.) In rome throu an þat hight neron..Petre.. naild on þe rod he was. 1424 Sc. Acts Jas. I (1814) II. 5/1 Chargit be þe gret aithe throwe þe bischope. c 1425 Eng. Conq. Irel. 12 Vnnethes he was I-draw vp throgh his felowes, þat mych put har lyf in aduentur for to saw his lif. 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 43 b/1 The skinne beinge lift vp through some seruant, or through the Chyrurgiane with his Pinsers. |
8. a. Indicating cause, reason, or motive: In consequence of, by reason of, on account of, owing to; from; for.
| a 1000 Cædmon's Gen. 610 (Gr.) Þa se forhatena spræc þurh feondscipe. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxvi. 31 Þurh þæs hyrdes sleᵹe byð seo heord todræfed. 1154 O.E. Chron. an. 1127 (Laud), Þet wes eall ðurh þone kyng Heanri. c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 191 Þurch onde com deað in to þe worelde. c 1460 Oseney Regr. 3 Þe paralityke man..heled of our lorde..þroughe þe beleve off theyme þat bare hym. 1562 Aberdeen Kirk Sess. Rec. (Spald. Cl.) 9 Gryte thyft, committit throcht verray neid and necessite. 1671 Milton Samson 369 If he through frailty err. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 638 Thro' Wine they quarrell'd, and thro' Wine were slain. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. ii. xiii, Every tongue thro' utter drouth Was wither'd at the root. 1894 J. J. Fowler Adamnan Introd. 56 The southern Picts..embraced the truth through the preaching of St. Ninian. |
† b. In oaths and adjurations: By, in the name of. (Cf. by prep. 2.) Obs.
| a 1000 Cædmon's Satan 694 Ic þe hate þurh þa hehstan miht, Þæt ðu hellwarum hyht ne abeode. c 1000 ælfric Gen. xxii. 16 Ic sweriᵹe þurh me sylfne, sæde se ælmihtiᵹa. a 1225 Ancr. R. 114 Þurh þeo ilke neiles ich halse ou ancren,..holdeð our honden wiðinnen ouwer þurles. c 1290 Edmund Conf. 307 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 440 ‘Þurf oure louerdes passioun tel nou’, he seide. |
II. adv.
(For special combinations with verbs, as break through, carry through, fall through, get through, go through, pass through, pull through, put through, run through, etc., see the verbs.)
1. a. From end to end, side to side, or surface to surface (of a body or space) by passing or extending within; so as to penetrate: cf. I. 1.
| a 1000 Ags. Ps. (Th.) lxxvii[i]. 15 [13] He sæ toslat, sealte yþa ᵹefæstnade, and hi foran þurh. a 1225 Ancr. R. 272 Heo þuruh stihten Isboset..into þe schere. c 1400 Destr. Troy 6780 Mony shalke þurgh shot with þere sharpe gere. 14.. Tundale's Vis. 327 Þo heyte of the fuyr dyd throw pas. c 1460 J. Metham Wks. (E.E.T.S.) 91 Als strekyn thourth with oon lyne or with many lynes. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon lix. 205 Huon..strake hym with his spere clene throwe. 1719 Watts Hymns ii. lix. 2 Glory to God that walks the sky, And sends his blessing thro'. 1798 Coleridge Anc. Mar. i. xvii, The Ice did split with a Thunder-fit; The Helmsman steer'd us thro'! 1850 J. Leitch tr. C. O. Müller's Anc. Art (ed. 2) §337 A..garment..drawn..over the right arm, or else through beneath it towards the left arm. |
b. In reference to travel or conveyance: Along the whole distance; all the way; to the end of the journey; to the destination.
| [a 1425 Cursor M. 11741 (Trin.) Of þritty dayes Iourney þro Þou shal haue but a day to go [earlier MSS. lang..gang].] 1617 J. Bargrave in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 198 His packets sometimes fail when private letters go through. 1692 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) II. 376 He was accompanied part of the way by the queen..and Essex, who went thro'. 1732 Pope Ess. Man ii. 274 Hope travels thro', nor quits us when we die. 1858 Penny Cycl. 2nd Suppl. 565/2 A man may now ‘book through’ from London to so many continental cities. 1858 Hawthorne Fr. & It. Note-bks. (1872) I. 3 The great bulk of our luggage had been registered through to Paris. Mod. The train goes through to Edinburgh. |
c. In reference to size: As measured from side to side; in diameter.
| a 1687 Petty Treat. Naval Philos. i. iv. §5 A Mast above 30 inches through. |
2. From beginning to end (of a time, course of action, life, trial, book, etc.); to the end or purposed accomplishment: cf. I. 4, 5.
| a 1175 Cott. Hom. 237 He wes acende of þe clene mede þe efer þurh lefede mede. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 85 Traistand in God, and in his gude rycht to bring him throuch. 1556 N.C. Wills (Surtees 1908) 239 Iff he helpe my executors through for the making of my accompte with the King. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. v. v. 382 When shall I heare all through? 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. 133 Who now reads Bolinbroke? Who ever read him through? 1865 Swinburne Chastelard i. i. (1894) 9 She must weep If she sing through. 1891 Law Times XCII. 18/2 Having heard the case through and seen the witnesses. |
3. Predicatively, after the verb to be, indicating a position, point, or condition ultimately arrived at. a. lit. Having penetrated or traversed a body or space. b. More usually fig. Having completed or accomplished an action or process (spec. having passed an examination); completed, as an action, etc.; finished, at an end, ‘done’; defeated, having no further prospects, no longer friends or associates, outmoded, ‘done for’. to be through with, to have finished or completed; to have done with, have no further dealings with; to be tired of, to have had enough of; also, to have arranged matters or come to an agreement with (a person) (now dial.): cf. quot. a 1500 s.v. thorough a. 2.
| 1481–90 Howard Househ. Bks. (Roxb.) 480 My Lord is throughe with his servaunt Robert Worsley, for certayn men..to be ready at all tymes at my Lordes wages. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. ii. 45 If a man is through with them in honest Taking-up, then they must stand vpon Securitie. 1607 ― Cor. ii. iii. 130, I am halfe through, The one part suffered, the other will I doe. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xix. 57 We had just so much work to do, and when that was through, the time was our own. 1849 Thackeray Pendennis I. xxi. 196 ‘This man has passed,’ he thought, ‘and I have failed!’..‘Good bye, Spavin,’ said he. ‘I'm very glad you are through.’ 1866 Belgravia Nov. 76 The examiners..are now consulting together as to who is ‘through’ and who is ‘plucked’. 1869 Lonsdale Gloss., To be through with any one, to complete a bargain with him. 1887 Scribner's Mag. May 622/2 He..then..scrawled a dash underneath. ‘There! I'm through!’ he said. 1896 Daily News 18 July 3/1 [He] did not arrive till the speech was half through. 1897 J. L. Allen Choir Invisible ii. 22, I was through with the lessons. 1901 K. Steuart By Allan Water ii. 63 All knew that James Steuart was ‘far through’ [= near the end of his life]. 1902 W. N. Harben Abner Daniel vii. 55, ‘I don't understand you.’ ‘Well, you will before I'm through with you.’ a 1912 Mod. I saw the train enter the tunnel; it must be through now. 1930 J. B. Priestley Angel Pavement x. 508 ‘You're through then, eh?’ ‘All I can do to-night, Mr Smeeth. One or two things I've had to leave till tomorrow morning.’ 1931 H. F. Pringle Theodore Roosevelt i. iii. 37 He..was through with breakfast by 8.30. 1934 G. B. Shaw On Rocks II. 271 We were born into good society; and we are through with it: we have no illusions about it, even if we are fit for nothing better. 1939 I. Baird Waste Heritage ii. 23 Now when we get down to the hall we're through, see? I don't want nothin' more to do with you, I don't even know your name. 1942 E. Paul Narrow St. xxxi. 281 An outsider not familiar with French politics might have thought that Daladier was through. Not at all. He got himself elected by the Popular Front..in April, 1938. 1956 B. Holiday Lady sings Blues (1973) xix. 154 It was only a few weeks before, people had been telling me I was through in the United States, that the public would never accept me. 1969 A. Lurie Real People 108, I hope you don't think anyone who doesn't paint soda-pop bottles and stripes is through artistically. 1970 Wall St. Jrnl. 30 Mar. 1/1 An executive with two dependent children earning the equivalent of $24,000 a year is left with $14,300..after the Board of the Inland Revenue is through. |
c. Of a telephone call or caller: connected.
| 1929 Telegr. & Teleph. Jrnl. XVI. 47/2 ‘You are through’ (which is the English way of saying ‘here is your party’). 1932 D. L. Sayers Have his Carcase iii. 33 The grocer announced that Harriet's call was through... ‘Hullo!’ she said. 1954 F. P. Keyes Royal Box i. 14 Won't you ever learn that when an English operator asks you if you're ‘through’, she doesn't mean have you finished, she means have you got your connection all right? 1977 Rolling Stone 30 June 80/3 Directly getting Honolulu information, I got a number for Wiley Hampson and presently was through to him at his home in Hawaii Kai. |
4. Qualifying adjs. and pa. pples.: Through the whole extent, substance, or thickness; throughout; hence, entirely, completely, thoroughly. † a. Standing before a pple. or adj.; = thorough adv. 4. Obs.
Formerly often hyphened to the following word; cf. through- in comb. 1.
| a 1240 [see thorough B. II. 4]. c 1440 Anc. Cookery in Househ. Ord. (1790) 459 When thai byn thurgh hot, take hom up with a skymmour. 1472 in Swayne Sarum Churchw. Acc. (1896) 2, j playne Chalice with his patent both through gilte. 1578 Lyte Dodoens v. lxxx. 651 The grapes be through ripe in September. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. 31 To haue him stand in the raine till he was through wet. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 32 In wintir quhen thay ar throuch fatt. 1631 Heywood 2nd Pt. Maid of West iii. i, Through satiate with the pleasures of this night. 1639 Fuller Holy War iii. xxvi. (1647) 156 Once through-hot long in cooling. 1665 Manley Grotius' Low C. Warres 762 Materials being now through dry by the heat of the weather. [1692–1853: see thorough B. II. 4.] 1901 E. G. Hayden Round Our Vill. 154 (E.D.D.) Come in, you must be through wet. |
b. Now regularly after the adj. or pple., and only in reference to physical condition, as wet through (see also wet).
| a 1766 F. Sheridan Sidney Bidulph IV. 53 He had been wet quite through. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 165 Thy..trunk is nearly rotten through. c 1825 Houlston Juv. Tracts, Forethought 3 It is of no use to put up your umbrella when you are wet through. 1892 G. Hake Mem. 80 Years lxiii. 259 The natives get hot-through in the..spring and summer months. Mod. This is a cold room; I am chilled through. It is barely warmed through. |
5. through and through: a. With repeated or complete penetration; through the whole thickness or substance; completely from beginning to end; right through, entirely through.
| 1470–85 [see thorough B. II. 5]. 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iv. 112 You'ld be so leane, that blasts of Ianuary Would blow you through and through. c 1643 Ld. Herbert Autobiog. (1824) 19 The English shot her [the Spanish ship] through and through so often that she run herself aground. 1709 Lond. Gaz. No. 4521/2 Having our Ship's Sides in a great many places shot through and through. 1894 Sir J. D. Astley Fifty Yrs. Life I. 166 We were all wet through and through. |
b. In all points or respects; thoroughly, wholly, entirely, out and out.
| c 1410 Chron. Eng. (Ritson) 554 An holi wommon thourh ant thourh. 1531 in Hall Chron., Hen. VIII (1548) 197 We..searched and examined through and through..bothe the bookes of holy scripture, and also the moste approued interpreters of the same. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 59, I will through and through Cleanse the foule bodie of th' infected world. 1746 Francis tr. Hor., Sat. i. ix. 134 One who knew My sweet Companion through and through. 1888 Rhys Hibbert Lect. 458 The Thorsteinn story..not corresponding through and through to any of the Celtic ones. 1894 Roosevelt in Forum (N.Y.) July 557 They must act as Americans, through and through, in spirit and hope and purpose. |
c. through-and-through sawing, sawn = plain sawing vbl. n., plain-sawn ppl. adj. s.v. plain a.1 and adv. C. c. Also through-and-through method.
| 1966 [see plain-sawn ppl. adj. s.v. plain a.1 and adv. C. c]. |
| 1963 Gloss. Terms Timber (B.S.I.) 14 Through-and-through sawing, a method of converting..logs by parallel cuts in the general direction of the grain. 1979 A. B. Emary Woodworking i. 9 Most of the timber at a merchant's will be from logs cut by the through and through method. |
6. After an auxiliary vb., with ellipsis of go, get, pass, etc., in lit. or fig. senses (see above); thus functioning as a verb in the infinitive. (See also through v. 2.)
| 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. lxiii, Bot, hert! quhere as the body may noght throu, Folow thy hevin! c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. x. (Fox & Wolf) xiii, This will not throw, but greit coist and expence. 1573, 1670 [see thorough B. II. 6]. 1644 Nye Gunnery (1670) 20 If you cannot sift it through the sieve, beat that again into powder which will not through. 1906 Marj. Bowen Viper of Milan xxi, We must pass, we must through this moment. |
▪ VII. through
obs. form of throw, trough.