put through
Britishverb
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to carry out to a conclusion
he put through his plan
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(also preposition) to organize the processing of
she put through his application to join the organization
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to connect by telephone
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to make (a telephone call)
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Bring to a successful conclusion, as in We put through a number of new laws . [Mid-1800s]
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Make a telephone connection, as in Please put me through to the doctor . [Late 1800s]
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Cause to undergo, especially something difficult or troublesome, as in He put me through a lot during this last year . The related expression, put someone through the wringer , means “to give someone a hard time,” as in The lawyer put the witness through the wringer . The wringer alluded to is the old-fashioned clothes wringer, in which clothes are pressed between two rollers to extract moisture. [First half of 1900s]
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.
“What he got put through probably would have destroyed 99% of people in his shoes,” Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
With other actors he was put through a medical boot camp for speed learning of medical techniques and jargon.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2026
Monica received an unrelated medical discharge from the college, but says this came as a relief after what she had been put through.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
"We need to be very much aware of how much we can tolerate... what we're going to be put through," she said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026
Rough drafts of articles and scrap paper with notes were carried back to the Times building and put through the basement shredder.
From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
