thorough

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. adj. Exhaustively complete: a thorough search.
2. adj. Painstakingly accurate or careful: thorough research.
3. adj. Absolute; utter: a thorough pleasure.
4. prep. Archaic Variant of through.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. Through. See through, a later form of thorough, now the exclusive form as a preposition and adverb.
2. Through: as, thoroughgoing. See through, adverb
3. Going through; through, in a literal sense: a form now occurring only in dialectal use or in certain phrases and compounds. See through, adjective
4. Going through, as to the end or bottom of anything; thoroughgoing. Hence— Penetrating; searching; sharp; keen.
5. Leaving nothing undone; slighting nothing; not superficial.
6. Fully executed; having no deficiencies; hence, complete in all respects; unqualified; perfect.
7. Earnest; ardent. [Rare.]
8. n. That which goes through. Specifically— A thoroughfare; a passage; a channel.
9. n. A furrow between two ridges.
10. n. Same as perpend.
11. n. In Brit. hist., in the reign of Charles I., the policy of Strafford and Laud of conducting or carrying through (‘thorough’) the administration of public affairs without regard to obstacles. Hence the word is associated with their system of tyranny.

Wiktionary

1. adj. painstaking and careful not to miss or omit any detail
2. adj. utter; complete; absolute
3. prep. Through. [9th-19th c.]

GNU Webster's 1913

1. prep. Through.
2. adj. Passing through.
3. adj. Passing through or to the end; hence, complete; perfect.
4. adv. Thoroughly.
5. adv. Through.
6. n. A furrow between two ridges, to drain off the surface water.

WordNet 3.0

1. adj. painstakingly careful and accurate
2. adj. performed comprehensively and completely