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THOROUGH
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I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Painstakingly careful and accurate
Example:
thorough research
Classified under:
Similar:
careful (exercising caution or showing care or attention)
Derivation:
thoroughness (conscientiousness in performing all aspects of a task)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Performed comprehensively and completely; not superficial or partial
Example:
thoroughgoing research
Synonyms:
exhaustive; thorough; thoroughgoing
Classified under:
Similar:
complete (having every necessary or normal part or component or step)
Derivation:
thoroughness (conscientiousness in performing all aspects of a task)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Without qualification; used informally as (often pejorative) intensifiers
Example:
the unadulterated truth
Synonyms:
arrant; complete; consummate; double-dyed; everlasting; gross; perfect; pure; sodding; staring; stark; thorough; thoroughgoing; unadulterated; utter
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
unmitigated (not diminished or moderated in intensity or severity; sometimes used as an intensifier)
Context examples:
A thorough, determined dislike of me—a dislike which I cannot but attribute in some measure to jealousy.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
Nothing but a thorough change of sentiment could account for it.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
The act or process of a systematic and thorough examination; research, study; the process of inquiring into or following up, intended to develop facts.
(Investigation, NCI Thesaurus)
The long term goal of the project is full annotation of eukaryotic genomes through a thorough validation of expressed proteins.
(PeptideAtlas, NCI Thesaurus)
When comet 45P zipped past Earth early in 2017, researchers observing from NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility, or IRTF, in Hawai’i gave the long-time trekker a thorough astronomical checkup.
(NASA Telescope Studies Quirky Comet 45P, NASA)
For these two were old friends, old mates both at school and college, both thorough respectors of themselves and of each other, and what does not always follow, men who thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
The branch of medical science that deals with the study of structure, function, and diseases of the nervous system; for thorough searching also see NEUROSCIENCE, MENTAL DISORDER, NERVOUS SYSTEM DISORDER, NERVOUS SYSTEM DISORDER DIAGNOSIS, MENTAL DISORDER DIAGNOSIS, NERVOUS SYSTEM DISORDER CHEMOTHERAPY, COMMUNICATION DISORDER, NEUROMUSCULAR DISORDER.
(Neurology, NIH CRISP Thesaurus)
It is only Cecilia, or Camilla, or Belinda; or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour, are conveyed to the world in the best-chosen language.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
Traddles now informed me, as the result of his inquiries, that the mere mechanical acquisition necessary, except in rare cases, for thorough excellence in it, that is to say, a perfect and entire command of the mystery of short-hand writing and reading, was about equal in difficulty to the mastery of six languages; and that it might perhaps be attained, by dint of perseverance, in the course of a few years.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
By some means, which are not yet clear, he succeeded in winning, under a false name, this official position in the office, which he utilised in order to obtain moulding of various locks, and a thorough knowledge of the position of the strong room and the safes.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
