But vs Through - What's the difference?
but | through |
(obsolete, outside, Scotland) Outside of.
Without, apart from, except.
Merely, only.
* 1791 , (Robert Burns), "(Ae Fond Kiss)":
* 1900 , , (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz) :
* 1977 , (Alistair Horne), A Savage War of Peace , New York Review Books, 2006, p.49:
(Australian, conjunctive) Though, however.
Except (for), excluding. Preceded by a negation.
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*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 23, author=Becky Ashton, work=BBC Sport
, title= On the contrary, but rather (introducing a word or clause that contrasts with or contradicts the preceding clause or sentence without the not ).
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However, although, nevertheless (implies that the following clause is contrary to prior belief or contrasts with or contradicts the preceding clause or sentence).
:
:
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-19, author=
, volume=189, issue=6, page=34, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Except that (introducing a subordinate clause which qualifies a negative statement); also, with omission of the subject of the subordinate clause, acting as a negative relative, "except one that", "except such that".
*, II.15:
*:There is no reason but hath another contrary unto it, saith the wisest party of Philosophers.
*Shakespeare
*:And but my noble Moor is true of mindit were enough to put him to ill thinking.
*1820 , (John Keats), ‘Lamia’, Lamia & Other Poems :
*:A deadly silence step by step increased, / Until it seem'd a horrid presence there, / And not a man but felt the terror in his hair.
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Without it also being the case that; unless that (introducing a necessary concomitant).
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(obsolete) Except with; unless with; without.
*Fuller
*:So insolent that he could not go but either spurning equals or trampling on his inferiors.
*Motto of the Mackintoshes
*:Touch not the cat but a glove.
(obsolete) Only; solely; merely.
*Milton
*:Observe but how their own principles combat one another.
*Bible, 2 Kings vii. 4
*:If they kill us, we shall but die.
*Dryden
*:a formidable man but to his friends
An instance or example of using the word "but".
(Scotland) The outer room of a small two-room cottage.
A limit; a boundary.
The end; especially the larger or thicker end, or the blunt, in distinction from the sharp, end; the butt.
From one side of an opening to the other.
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*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838
, page=13 (Technology Quarterly), magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Entering, then later leaving.
:
*
*:Athelstan Arundel walked home all the way, foaming and raging.He walked the whole way, walking through crowds, and under the noses of dray-horses, carriage-horses, and cart-horses, without taking the least notice of them.
*
*:Turning back, then, toward the basement staircase, she began to grope her way through blinding darkness, but had taken only a few uncertain steps when, of a sudden, she stopped short and for a little stood like a stricken thing, quite motionless save that she quaked to her very marrow in the grasp of a great and enervating fear.
*{{quote-magazine, date=2013-05-25, volume=407, issue=8837, page=74, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Surrounded by (while moving).
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*, chapter=1
, title= *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=76, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= By means of.
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*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 28, author=Tom Rostance, title=Arsenal 2-1 Olympiakos
, work=BBC Sport *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= (lb) To (or up to) and including, with all intermediate values.
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Passing from one side of an object to the other.
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Finished; complete.
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Valueless; without a future.
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No longer interested.
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*
*:“I'm through with all pawn-games,” I laughed. “Come, let us have a game of lansquenet. Either I will take a farewell fall out of you or you will have your sevenfold revenge”.
*1977 , Iggy Pop,
*:I'm worth a million in prizes / Yeah, I'm through with sleeping on the sidewalk / No more beating my brains / No more beating my brains / With the liquor and drugs / With the liquor and drugs
Proceeding from origin to destination without delay due to change of equipment.
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From one side to the other by way of the interior.
From one end to the other.
To the end.
Completely.
Out into the open.
As nouns the difference between but and through
is that but is any piece of equipment used for writing with one's hand, except chalks while through is a large slab of stone laid on a tomb.As a preposition through is
from one side of an opening to the other.As an adjective through is
passing from one side of an object to the other.As an adverb through is
from one side to the other by way of the interior.but
English
Preposition
(English prepositions)- Away but the hoose and tell me whae's there.
- Everyone but Father left early.
- ''I like everything but that.
Adverb
(-)- For to see her was to love her,
Love but her, and love for ever.
- Now the Wicked Witch of the West had but one eye, yet that was as powerful as a telescope, and could see everywhere.
- The stony outcrops are often covered but thinly with arable soil; winters are bitingly cold, and rainfall scanty and unpredictable.
- I'll have to go home early but .
Conjunction
(wikipedia but) (English Conjunctions)QPR 1-0 Chelsea, passage=Luiz struggled with the movement of Helguson in the box, as he collected a long ball and the Spaniard barged him over, leaving referee Chris Foy little option but to point to the spot.}}
Ian Sample
Irregular bedtimes may affect children's brains, passage=Irregular bedtimes may disrupt healthy brain development in young children, according to a study of intelligence and sleeping habits. ¶ Going to bed at a different time each night affected girls more than boys, but both fared worse on mental tasks than children who had a set bedtime, researchers found.}}
Travels and travails, passage=Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But , as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.}}
Usage notes
* Beginning a sentence with a coordinating conjunction such as but' is considered incorrect by classical grammarians arguing that a coordinating conjunction at the start of a sentence has nothing to connect, but use of the word in this way is very common. It is, however, best to avoid beginning a sentence with '''but''' in formal writing. Combining sentences or using '''however''', '''nevertheless''', '''still''', or ' though is appropriate for the formal style. ** But this tool has its uses. ** This tool has its uses, however. ** Nevertheless, this tool has its uses. ** Still, this tool has its uses. ** This tool still has its uses. ** This tool has its uses, though. * The use of the word but preceded by a comma is also considered incorrect by classical grammarians. ** I was very tired, but I decided to continue. ** It was a lovely day, but rain looked likely.Synonyms
* (except) bar, unless, excepting, excluding, with the exception of, without * (however) yet, although, acNoun
(en noun)- It has to be done – no ifs or buts .
Derived terms
* all but * but and ben * but good *Statistics
*through
English
Alternative forms
* thorow (obsolete) * thruEtymology 1
From (etyl) *. See also thorough.Preposition
(English prepositions)Ideas coming down the track, passage=A “moving platform” scheme
No hiding place, passage=In America alone, people spent $170 billion on “direct marketing”—junk mail of both the physical and electronic varieties—last year. Yet of those who received unsolicited adverts through the post, only 3% bought anything as a result. If the bumf arrived electronically, the take-up rate was 0.1%. And for online adverts the “conversion” into sales was a minuscule 0.01%.}}
Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=I stumbled along through the young pines and huckleberry bushes. Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path that, I cal'lated, might lead to the road I was hunting for. It twisted and turned, and, the first thing I knew, made a sudden bend around a bunch of bayberry scrub and opened out into a big clear space like a lawn.}}
Snakes and ladders, passage=Risk is everywhere.
citation, passage=But the home side were ahead in the eighth minute through 18-year-old Oxlade-Chamberlain.}}
The attack of the MOOCs, passage=Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.}}
Derived terms
(terms derived using the preposition "through") * clear through * feedthrough * get through * go through * look through * right through * through and through * through with * throughput * throughwayAdjective
(-)Adverb
(-)- The arrow went straight through .
- Others slept; he worked straight through .
- She read the letter through .
- He said he would see it through .
- Leave the yarn in the dye overnight so the color soaks through .
- The American army broke through at St. Lo.