Englishsee something through
Meaning: To finish something one has started.
Example: “The project was difficult, but she saw it through to the end.”
Origin: Combines "see" and "through" in a verb pairing documented since around 1400, built on the same visual metaphor for mental understanding found across many unrelated languages — perceiving something clearly is treated as a kind of seeing, even when nothing is literally being looked at. "See something through" specifically, meaning to stay committed to an undertaking until it's genuinely finished rather than abandoning it partway, extends that visual metaphor into a spatial one: continuing to look, and to act, all the way to the far side of a task rather than stopping short partway across.
More English idioms
- shot in the dark A guess, often wild or based on little information.
- sit tight To wait quietly and patiently, often in an anxious situation.
- sitting pretty In a good or advantageous situation; living comfortably.
- sleep like a log To sleep so soundly that noise doesn't wake the person.
- let someone or something slip through someone's fingers To lose something because one takes too much time to consider the situation.
- slow burn To be quietly angry.
Explore another collection: Proverbs
Short sayings of timeless wisdom from more than 50 cultures, each with its meaning and origin.
- Bir elin nesi var, iki elin sesi var Working together achieves what one person alone cannot.
- Sabır acıdır, meyvesi tatlıdır Waiting is hard, but what it brings is worth it.
- Sabreden derviş muradına ermiş Those who wait patiently get what they want in the end.
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