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

thru

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

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

909 2.5

To stop someone speaking or an activity

Compounds

drive-thru

23 2.5

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

How Continuous

nonstop

35 1.5

thru

6.6

through

1.1

direct

1 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.