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Through vs Out - What's the difference?

through | out | Synonyms |

Through is a synonym of out.


As prepositions the difference between through and out

is that through is from one side of an opening to the other while out is away from the inside.

As adjectives the difference between through and out

is that through is passing from one side of an object to the other while out is (obsolete) of a young lady, having entered society and available to be courted.

As adverbs the difference between through and out

is that through is from one side to the other by way of the interior while out is away from home or one's usual place, or not indoors.

As nouns the difference between through and out

is that through is a large slab of stone laid on a tomb while out is a means of exit, escape, reprieve, etc.

As a verb out is

to eject; to expel.

through

English

Alternative forms

* thorow (obsolete) * thru

Etymology 1

From (etyl) *. See also thorough.

Preposition

(English prepositions)
  • From one side of an opening to the other.
  • :
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838
  • , page=13 (Technology Quarterly), magazine=(The Economist) , title= Ideas coming down the track , passage=A “moving platform” scheme
  • 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= 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%.}}
  • Surrounded by (while moving).
  • :
  • *, chapter=1
  • , title= 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.}}
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=76, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Snakes and ladders , passage=Risk is everywhere.
  • By means of.
  • :
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 28, author=Tom Rostance, title=Arsenal 2-1 Olympiakos
  • , work=BBC Sport citation , passage=But the home side were ahead in the eighth minute through 18-year-old Oxlade-Chamberlain.}}
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= 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.}}
  • (lb) To (or up to) and including, with all intermediate values.
  • :
  • 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 * throughway

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Passing from one side of an object to the other.
  • :
  • Finished; complete.
  • :
  • Valueless; without a future.
  • :
  • No longer interested.
  • :
  • *
  • *:“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.
  • :
  • Adverb

    (-)
  • From one side to the other by way of the interior.
  • The arrow went straight through .
  • From one end to the other.
  • Others slept; he worked straight through .
    She read the letter through .
  • To the end.
  • He said he would see it through .
  • Completely.
  • Leave the yarn in the dye overnight so the color soaks through .
  • Out into the open.
  • The American army broke through at St. Lo.

    References

    * Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "Bounded landmarks", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition , Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A large slab of stone laid on a tomb.
  • out

    English

    (wikipedia out)

    Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • Away from home or one's usual place, or not indoors.
  • Let's eat out tonight
    Leave a message with my secretary if I'm out when you call.
  • Away from; at a distance.
  • Keep out !
  • Away from the inside or the centre.
  • The magician pulled the rabbit out of the hat.
  • Into a state of non-operation; into non-existence.
  • Switch the lights out .
    Put the fire out .
  • To the end; completely.
  • I hadn't finished. Hear me out.
  • * Bible, Psalms iv. 23
  • Deceitful men shall not live out half their days.
  • The place was all decked out for the holidays.
  • (cricket, baseball) Of a player, disqualified from playing further by some action of a member of the opposing team (such as being stumped in cricket).
  • Synonyms

    * (not at home) away

    Antonyms

    * (not at home) in

    Derived terms

    (terms derived from out) * all out * bottle out * bowl out * bug out * camp out * chicken out * chill out * churn out * coffeed out * come out of the closet * come out * coming out of one's ears * crank out * down and out * eat one's heart out * figure out * flesh out * foul out * freeze out * geek out * get out * go in one ear and out the other * hang out * hold out * inside out * iron out * kick out * kit out * knock out * lock out * one eighty out * opt out * out of fashion * out of it * out of joint * out of luck * out of one's mind * out of place * out of pocket * out of proportion * out of sorts * out of stock * out of the blue * out of the ordinary * out of the question * out of the way * out of the woods * out of tune * out of wedlock * out of work * out of * out there * out to lunch * out to, out to get someone * out-of-bounds * out-of-print * pig out * put out feelers * put out * rub out * suss out * turn out * wash out * way out * weed out * wipe out * zonk out * zoom out

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • Away from the inside.
  • He threw it out the door.
  • (colloquial) outside
  • It's raining out .
    It's cold out .

    Synonyms

    * (away from the inside) through

    Antonyms

    * (away from the inside) in

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A means of exit, escape, reprieve, etc.
  • They wrote the law to give those organizations an out .
  • (baseball) A state in which a member of the batting team is removed from play due to the application of various rules of the game such as striking out, hitting a fly ball which is caught by the fielding team before bouncing, etc.
  • (cricket) A dismissal; a state in which a member of the batting team finishes his turn at bat, due to the application of various rules of the game such as hit wicket, wherein the bowler has hit the batsman's wicket with the ball.
  • (poker) A card which can make a hand a winner.
  • (dated) A trip out; an outing.
  • * Charles Dickens, Bleak House
  • "Us London lawyers don't often get an out ; and when we do, we like to make the most of it, you know."
  • (mostly, in plural) One who, or that which, is out; especially, one who is out of office.
  • A place or space outside of something; a nook or corner; an angle projecting outward; an open space.
  • (printing, dated) A word or words omitted by the compositor in setting up copy; an omission.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To eject; to expel.
  • * Selden
  • a king outed from his country
  • * Heylin
  • The French have been outed of their holds.
  • To reveal (a person) to be secretly homosexual.
  • To reveal (a person or organization) as having a certain secret, such as a being a secret agent or undercover detective.
  • * 2009' March 16, Maurna Desmond, " AIG '''Outs Counterparties]" (online news article), ''[[w:Forbes, Forbes.com] .
  • To reveal (a secret).
  • A Brazilian company outed the new mobile phone design.
  • To come or go out; to get out or away; to become public.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Truth will out .

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (obsolete) Of a young lady, having entered society and available to be courted.
  • * {{quote-book
  • , title=(Mansfield Park) , last=Austen , first=Jane , authorlink=Jane Austen , year=1814 citation , volume=one, chapter V , publisher= }}
    "Pray, is she out', or is she not? I am puzzled. She dined at the Parsonage, with the rest of you, which seemed like being '''''out'' ; and yet she says so little, that I can hardly suppose she ''is ."
  • released, available for purchase, download or other use
  • Did you hear? Their newest CD is out !
  • (cricket, baseball) Of a batter or batsman, having caused an out called on himself while batting under various rules of the game.
  • Openly acknowledging one's homosexuality.
  • It's no big deal to be out in the entertainment business.

    Usage notes

    * In cricket, the specific cause or rule under which a batsman is out appears after the word "out", eg, "out hit the ball twice". * In baseball, the cause is expressed as a verb with adverbial "out", eg, "he grounded out".

    Antonyms

    * (disqualified from playing) in, safe * (sense, openly acknowledging one's homosexuality) closeted

    Derived terms

    * all out * eat out * far out * go out * on the outs * out- * out of * outer * outback * outer * outing * outness * outside * outta * outward * outwards * outworn * put out * run out * way out

    References

    * Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "Bounded landmarks", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition , Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8