through
/θɹu/preposition, adjective, adverb
through is spelled T-H-R-O-U-G-H. The wrong spelling people search most is throught: about 690 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 14 of all searches for the word. Through is a preposition meaning “So as to enter (something), pass within or across, and then leave”.
How many letters and syllables are in through?
| Letters | 7: T-H-R-O-U-G-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 741 times per million words; the 142nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 6; the most searched, throught, about 690 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell through?
Through is spelled T-H-R-O-U-G-H. 6 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 10 of the searches for through in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is through?
Through appears 741 times per million words in written English, the 142nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce through?
- UK /θɹuː/
- British /θɹʉw/
- US /θɹu/
As a noun (“A coffin, sarcophagus or tomb of stone; a large slab of…”): /θɹʌf/, /θɹuː/.
Through has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-through.wav, En-us-through.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with through
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: thru.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with through?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as through from its last stressed vowel (/u/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of through
- thru US, informal
- thorough
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does through mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
preposition
- 1
So as to enter (something), pass within or across, and then leave.
I drove through Lausanne on my way from Geneva to Zurich.
- 2
So as to progress within (something) or towards the end or limit of (something).
The virus broke out in the capital city and is now spreading quickly through the country.
- 3
From one side of (an opening) to the other.
Go straight ahead and through that door.
- 4
To or beyond the other side of (an obstacle); past.
I hope to start in the autumn, but I've got to get through the interview first.
- 5
Indicating that something has been consumed or used up.
Have you got through all those chocolates already?!
- 6
Along the course of; used in expressions of progress towards the end of something.
We're halfway through the year.
- 7
Throughout the duration of.
He worked through the night.
- 8
By way of (a physical passage).
The hot water enters through this pipe.
adjective
- 1
Passing from one side of something to the other.
Interstate highways form a nationwide system of through roads.
- 2
USFinished; complete.
They were through with laying the subroof by noon.
- 3
Along the course of a task etc.; used in expressions of progress towards the end.
It's a big job but we're halfway through.
- 4
Without a future; done for.
After being implicated in the scandal, he was through as an executive in financial services.
- 5
No longer interested; wearied or turned off by experience.
She was through with him.
- 6
Proceeding from origin to destination without the need to change transport vehicle.
The through flight through Memphis was the fastest.
- 7
Connected (to someone) by telephone.
You're through to the doctor now.
- 8
In possession of the ball beyond the last line of defence but not necessarily the goalkeeper; through on goal.
adverb
- 1
By way of the interior.
The arrow went straight through.
- 2
By way of an opening.
I opened the window and climbed through.
- 3
So as to overcome an obstacle and pass beyond it; past.
The road is blocked by an overturned truck, and cars can't pass through.
- 4
So as to pass a stage in a process and proceed to the next stage or level.
The bill will be tabled tomorrow, but I doubt that it will be voted through.
- 5
From beginning to end, or from the present position to the end.
Others went to bed for the night; he worked straight through.
- 6
Throughout something; all the way across or into something.
Leave the yarn in the dye overnight so the color soaks through.
- 7
So as to connect with or reach.
I had difficulty reaching the commander, but eventually my call was routed through.
noun
- 1
obsoleteA coffin, sarcophagus or tomb of stone; a large slab of stone laid on a tomb, or in a dry-stone wall from one side to the other; a perpend.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate through?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of through: thru.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Through in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | par, à travers , dans |
| German | durch |
| Portuguese | pelo, pela, por, através , através de |
| Spanish | a través de, por, al través de |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does through come from?
From Middle English thrugh, thruch, thruh, metathetic variants of thurgh, thurh, from Old English þurh, from Proto-Germanic *þurhw (“through”), from Proto-Indo-European *tr̥h₂kʷe, suffixed zero-grade from *terh₂- (“to pass through”) + *-kʷe (“and”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What to look up after through
- through or thru? the difference
- through or throw? the difference
- who rhymes with through
- new rhymes with through
- throttle the entry before
- throughline the entry after
- English words starting with T the most written first
- The most misspelled English words
- Count the syllables of any word
- Check the spelling of a text