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Glite Dictionary
to luck through

to luck through

8.6
To succeed by chance without skill or planning
  • phrasal verb
  • UK
translation icon : salir adelante por suerte
  • He didn't study for the test but managed to luck through anyway.

Examples

  • He lucked through the interview without preparation.

  • I often luck through interviews despite feeling unprepared.

  • Some teams just luck through the early rounds of the tournament without real strategy.

  • She managed to luck through the exam!

  • I was nervous, but I managed to luck through the presentation without any major mistakes.

  • Despite not having practiced, she luck through the driving test and passed.

  • He usually fails at games, but today he luck through and won unexpectedly.

Synonyms

to luck
vsto luck through
30 6.6

To get something by chance rather than by planning or effort

is about success by chance instead of skill or effort
to hit the jackpot
vsto luck through
24 4.0

To have a big, unexpected success because of luck

means success by chance but stresses large magnitude
to luck out
vsto luck through
  • Informal
22 8.0

To do well by chance

describes succeeding by chance rather than by skill
to fluke
vsto luck through
  • Informal
1 6.5

To succeed by chance rather than by skill

is general success by chance rather than by skill or effort
to strike it lucky
vsto luck through
  • UK
5.7

To get unexpected good luck

denotes unplanned success achieved by chance not effort

Surface Forms

luck through infinitive
lucked through past
lucked through past participle
lucking through present participle
lucks through third person singular

Morphology

luck + through

The meaning 'to succeed by chance' is directly and compositionally derived from 'luck' (fortune/chance) plus 'through' (to get across or complete). A learner who knows both constituents can reasonably infer that the action is getting through something thanks to luck rather than skill, and similar constructions exist cross-linguistically, so the phrase is readily interpretable.

Etymology

Luck through comes from the simple image of moving through a hard time because of luck, like walking through a storm and being lucky enough not to get wet. That's why it means 'to succeed by chance rather than by skill'.