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Throughout vs While - What's the difference?

throughout | while |

As a preposition throughout

is in every part of; all through.

As an adverb throughout

is completely through, right the way through.

As a noun while is

an uncertain duration of time, a period of time.

As a conjunction while is

during the same time that.

As a verb while is

to pass (time) idly.

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

    while

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An uncertain duration of time, a period of time.
  • He lectured for quite a long while .

    Conjunction

    (wikipedia while) (English Conjunctions)
  • During the same time that.
  • * , chapter=12
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=While the powwow was going on the big woman came back again. She was consider'ble rumpled and scratched up, but there was fire in her eye.}}
  • * 1948 , , North from Mexico / The Spanish-Speaking People of The United States , J. B. Lippincott Company, page 25,
  • While De Anza was exploring the Bay of San Francisco, seeking a site for the presidio, the American colonists on the eastern seaboard, three thousand miles away, were celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=David Simpson
  • , volume=188, issue=26, page=36, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= Fantasy of navigation , passage=Like most human activities, ballooning has sponsored heroes and hucksters and a good deal in between. For every dedicated scientist patiently recording atmospheric pressure and wind speed while shivering at high altitudes, there is a carnival barker with a bevy of pretty girls willing to dangle from a basket or parachute down to earth.}}
  • Although.
  • * 2013 September 28, (Kenan Malik), " London Is Special, but Not That Special," New York Times (retrieved 28 September 2013):
  • While Britain’s recession has been deep and unforgiving, in London it has been relatively shallow.
  • (Northern England, Scotland) Until.
  • * Beaumont and Fletcher
  • I may be conveyed into your chamber; I'll lie under your bed while midnight.
  • As long as.
  • * I. Watts
  • Use your memory; you will sensibly experience a gradual improvement, while you take care not to overload it.

    Verb

    (whil)
  • To pass (time) idly.
  • * Longfellow
  • The lovely lady whiled the hours away.
  • To loiter.
  • (Spectator)

    Derived terms

    * while away * meanwhile * the while