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Throughout vs Thorough - What's the difference?

throughout | thorough |

In obsolete terms the difference between throughout and thorough

is that throughout is completely through, right the way through while thorough is through.

As an adverb throughout

is completely through, right the way through.

As an adjective thorough is

painstaking and careful not to miss or omit any detail.

As a noun thorough is

a furrow between two ridges, to drain off the surface water.

throughout

English

Preposition

(English prepositions)
  • In every part of; all through.
  • *1748 , David Hume. Enquiries concerning the human understanding and concerning the principles of moral. London: Oxford University Press, 1973, §5:
  • *:And though a philosopher may live remote from business, the genius of philosophy, if carefully cultivated by several, must gradually diffuse itself throughout the whole society.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1913, author=
    • , chapter=4, title= Lord Stranleigh Abroad , passage=“My father had ideas about conservation long before the United States took it up.
  • *{{quote-book, year=2006, author=(Edwin Black)
    • , chapter=2, title= Internal Combustion , passage=But through the oligopoly, charcoal fuel proliferated throughout London's trades and industries.  By the 1200s, brewers and bakers, tilemakers, glassblowers, pottery producers, and a range of other craftsmen all became hour-to-hour consumers of charcoal.}}

    Adverb

    (-)
  • (label) Completely through, right the way through.
  • *:
  • *:Syr she said here came a knyght rydyng as my lord and I rested vs here / and asked hym of whens he was / and my lord said of Arthurs courte / therfore said the stronge knyght I wille Iuste with the / for I hate alle these that ben of Arthurs Courte / And my lord that lyeth here dede amounted vpon his hors / and the stronge knyght and my lord encountred to gyder / and there he smote my lord thorugh oute with his spere
  • In every part; everywhere.
  • During an entire period of time.
  • *2012 , Chelsea 6-0 Wolves
  • *:Chelsea's youngsters, who looked lively throughout , then combined for the second goal in the seventh minute. Romeu's shot was saved by Wolves goalkeeper Dorus De Vries but Piazon kept the ball alive and turned it back for an unmarked Bertrand to blast home.

    • See also

    * passim English prepositions

    thorough

    English

    Etymology 1

    (etyl) .

    Alternative forms

    * thoro

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • painstaking and careful not to miss or omit any detail
    • The Prime Minister announced a thorough investigation into the death of a father of two in police custody.
    He is the most thorough worker I have ever seen.
    The infested house needs a thorough cleansing before it will be inhabitable.
  • utter; complete; absolute
    • It is a thorough pleasure to see him beg for mercy.
    Derived terms
    * thoroughbred * thoroughgoing * thoroughly

    Etymology 2

    A disyllabic form of (etyl) .

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • (obsolete) Through.
  • * , II.xii:
    • Ye might haue seene the frothy billowes fry / Vnder the ship, as thorough them she went [...].
  • * 1599 , , V. i. 109:
    • You are contented to be led in triumph / Thorough the streets of Rome?

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (UK, dialect) A furrow between two ridges, to drain off the surface water.
    • (Halliwell)