Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.
Note: In addition to the uses shown below, '~' is used in phrasal verbs such as ‘see ~’, ‘think ~’, and ‘win ~’.
1.
To move ~ something such as a hole, opening, or pipe means to move directly from one side or end of it to the other.
The theatre was evacuated when rain poured ~ the roof at the Liverpool Playhouse...
Go straight ~ that door under the EXIT sign...
Visitors enter ~ a side entrance...
PREP
•
Through is also an adverb.
He went straight ~ to the kitchen and took a can of beer from the fridge...
She opened the door and stood back to allow the man to pass ~.
ADV: ADV after v
2.
To cut ~ something means to cut it in two pieces or to make a hole in it.
Use a proper fish knife and fork if possible as they are designed to cut ~ the flesh but not the bones...
Rabbits still manage to find a way in. I am sure that some have even taken to gnawing ~ the metal.
PREP
•
Through is also an adverb.
Score lightly at first and then repeat, scoring deeper each time until the board is cut ~.
ADV: ADV after v
3.
To go ~ a town, area, or country means to travel across it or in it.
Go up to Ramsgate, cross into France, go ~ Andorra and into Spain.
...travelling ~ pathless woods...
PREP
•
Through is also an adverb.
Few know that the tribe was just passing ~.
ADV: ADV after v
4.
If you move ~ a group of things or a mass of something, it is on either side of you or all around you.
We made our way ~ the crowd to the river...
Sybil’s fingers ran ~ the water...
PREP
•
Through is also an adverb.
He pushed his way ~ to the edge of the crowd where he waited.
ADV: ADV after v
5.
To get ~ a barrier or obstacle means to get from one side of it to the other.
Allow twenty-five minutes to get ~ Passport Control and Customs...
He was one of the last of the crowd to pass ~ the barrier...
PREP
•
Through is also an adverb.
...a maze of concrete and steel barriers, designed to prevent vehicles driving straight ~.
ADV: ADV after v
6.
If a driver goes ~ a red light, they keep driving even though they should stop.
He was killed at a road junction by a van driver who went ~ a red light...
PREP
7.
If something goes into an object and comes out of the other side, you can say that it passes ~ the object.
The ends of the net pass ~ a wooden bar at each end...
PREP
•
Through is also an adverb.
I bored a hole so that the fixing bolt would pass ~.
ADV: ADV after v
8.
To go ~ a system means to move around it or to pass from one end of it to the other.
...electric currents travelling ~ copper wires...
What a lot of cards you’ve got ~ the post!
PREP
•
Through is also an adverb.
It is also expected to consider a resolution which would allow food to go ~ immediately with fewer restrictions.
ADV: ADV after v
9.
If you see, hear, or feel something ~ a particular thing, that thing is between you and the thing you can see, hear, or feel.
Alice gazed pensively ~ the wet glass...
PREP
10.
If something such as a feeling, attitude, or quality, happens ~ an area, organization, or a person’s body, it happens everywhere in it or affects all of it.
An atmosphere of anticipation vibrated ~ the crowd...
What was going ~ his mind when he spoke those amazing words?...
PREP
11.
If something happens or exists ~ a period of time, it happens or exists from the beginning until the end.
She kept quiet all ~ breakfast.
PREP
•
Through is also an adverb.
We’ve got a tough programme, hard work right ~ to the summer...
ADV: ADV after v
12.
If something happens from a particular period of time ~ another, it starts at the first period and continues until the end of the second period. (AM; in BRIT, use to )
...open Monday ~ Sunday from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm...
PREP
13.
If you go ~ a particular experience or event, you experience it, and if you behave in a particular way ~ it, you behave in that way while it is happening.
Men go ~ a change of life emotionally just like women.
PREP
14.
If you are ~ with something or if it is ~, you have finished doing it and will never do it again. If you are ~ with someone, you do not want to have anything to do with them again.
I’m ~ with the explaining...
ADJ: v-link ADJ, oft ADJ with n
15.
You use ~ in expressions such as half-way ~ and all the way ~ to indicate to what extent an action or task is completed.
A thirty-nine-year-old competitor collapsed half-way ~ the marathon and died shortly afterwards.
PREP: n PREP n
•
Through is also an adverb.
Stir the pork about until it turns white all the way ~.
ADV: n ADV
16.
If something happens because of something else, you can say that it happens ~ it.
They are understood to have retired ~ age or ill health...
PREP
17.
You use ~ when stating the means by which a particular thing is achieved.
Those who seek to grab power ~ violence deserve punishment...
PREP
18.
If you do something ~ someone else, they take the necessary action for you.
Do I need to go ~ my doctor or can I make an appointment direct?...
= via
PREP
19.
If something such as a proposal or idea goes ~, it is accepted by people in authority and is made legal or official.
It is possible that the present Governor General will be made interim President, if the proposals go ~...
ADV: ADV after v
•
Through is also a preposition.
They want to get the plan ~ Congress as quickly as possible.
PREP
20.
If someone gets ~ an examination or a round of a competition, they succeed or win.
She was bright, learned languages quickly, and sailed ~ her exams...
PREP
•
Through is also an adverb.
Nigeria also go ~ from that group.
ADV: ADV after v
21.
When you get ~ while making a telephone call, the call is connected and you can speak to the person you are phoning.
He may find the line cut on the telephone so that he can’t get ~...
ADV: ADV after v
22.
If you look or go ~ a lot of things, you look at them or deal with them one after the other.
Let’s go ~ the numbers together and see if a workable deal is possible...
PREP
23.
If you read ~ something, you read it from beginning to end.
She read ~ pages and pages of the music I had brought her...
PREP
•
Through is also an adverb.
He read the article straight ~, looking for any scrap of information that might have passed him by.
ADV: ADV after v
24.
A ~ train goes directly to a particular place, so that the people who want to go there do not have to change trains.
...Britain’s longest ~ train journey, 685 miles.
ADJ: ADJ n
25.
If you say that someone or something is wet ~, you are emphasizing how wet they are.
I returned to the inn cold and wet, soaked ~ by the drizzling rain...
ADV: adj ADV emphasis
26.
Through and ~ means completely and to the greatest extent possible.
I’ve gotten my feet thoroughly soaked and feel frozen ~ and ~...
PHRASE: usu n/adj PHR, PHR after v