pull through

British

verb

Also: pull round. to survive or recover or cause to survive or recover, esp after a serious illness or crisis

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

a weighted cord with a piece of cloth at the end used to clean the bore of a firearm

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

pull through Idioms

Survive a difficult situation or illness, as in We've had to declare bankruptcy, but I'm sure we'll pull through. [Mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The big-serving Kazakh fifth seed held her nerve to pull through 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 at Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne in 2hrs 18mins.

From Barron's • Jan. 31, 2026

They were close to winning but unable to pull through in the biggest moments.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 2, 2025

"I was always really confident we would not just pull through but do really well against them," Sherelle told BBC Sport.

From BBC • Apr. 17, 2025

Our star dying is an event, the authors say, that even tardigrades are not going to pull through.

From Salon • Feb. 25, 2025

As we go under bridges and pull through stations the light flickers and Carmine makes a shadow game of moving his hand across my white pinafore.

From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023