📅 Up to and including 🚗 Across a place 📖 From start to end 🚆 Without stopping

thru

1 6.6

Continuing without a stop or change, used before a word to show direct service

adjective
/θruː/

: directo

We enjoyed a thru bus service that connected all major attractions without needing to change.

Examples

The thru lane on the highway lets vehicles pass directly to their destination without stopping.
A sign ahead by a gravel road read SAM'S CREEK ROAD -- NO THRU TRAFFIC.

Fiction book (1993)
The highway was closed, but the construction site allowed thru access for local traffic.

Synonyms

through

vsthru

4 1.1

Going directly from the start to the destination without stops

is used before a noun rather than in other grammatical positions

Antonyms

to interrupt

796 2.5

To stop someone speaking or an activity

Compounds

drive-thru

48 2.5

A place, like a restaurant or bank, where you buy things without leaving your car

How Continuous

nonstop

43 1.5

thru

1 6.6

through

4 1.1

direct

52 1.6

Surface Forms

thru positive

through positive

Etymology

Thru is an informal spelling of through, from the old English thurh meaning 'through'. When through is used before a noun it shows no change or stop, so thru in phrases like 'thru train' or 'thru flight' means the service continues directly without a transfer.