see through a person/thing
- see through a person/thing
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to understand the real nature of; not to be deceived by
We belong, of course, to a generation that's seen through things, seen how futile everything is, and had the courage to accept futility, and say to ourselves: "There is nothing for it but to enjoy ourselves as best we can." (J. Galsworthy)
I saw through Anna very rapidly. (I. Murdoch)
"Anybody will be able to see through it," said John gloomily. (J. Galsworthy)
Oliver Haddo looked at him with the blue eyes that seemed to see right through people. (W. S. Maugham)
Idioms and examples.
2014.
Look at other dictionaries:
Person — Per son, n. [OE. persone, persoun, person, parson, OF. persone, F. personne, L. persona a mask (used by actors), a personage, part, a person, fr. personare to sound through; per + sonare to sound. See {Per }, and cf. {Parson}.] 1. A character or… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
see — 1. v. (past saw; past part. seen) 1 tr. discern by use of the eyes; observe; look at (can you see that spider?; saw him fall over). 2 intr. have or use the power of discerning objects with the eyes (sees best at night). 3 tr. discern mentally;… … Useful english dictionary
through — ♦ (The preposition is pronounced [[t]θruː[/t]]. In other cases, through is pronounced [[t]θru͟ː[/t]]) 1) PREP To move through something such as a hole, opening, or pipe means to move directly from one side or end of it to the other. The theatre… … English dictionary
see — 1 /si:/ verb past tense saw past participle seen /si:n/ UNDERSTAND/REALIZE 1 (I, T) to understand or realize something: I can see that you re not very happy with the situation. | Seeing his distress, Louise put her arm around him. (+ why/what/who … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
see — see1 [ si ] (past tense saw [ sɔ ] ; past participle seen [ sin ] ) verb *** ▸ 1 notice with eyes/look at ▸ 2 meet/visit someone ▸ 3 for more information ▸ 4 understand something ▸ 5 consider particular way ▸ 6 imagine someone/something ▸ 7 find… … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
see — [[t]si͟ː[/t]] ♦ sees, seeing, saw, seen 1) VERB: no cont When you see something, you notice it using your eyes. [V n] You can t see colours at night... [V n ing] I saw a man making his way towards me … English dictionary
through — through1 W1S1 [θru:] prep, adv ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(door/passage etc)¦ 2¦(cutting/breaking)¦ 3¦(across an area)¦ 4¦(see through something)¦ 5¦(past a place)¦ 6¦(time)¦ 7¦(process/experience)¦ 8¦(competitions)¦ 9¦(because of something)¦ … Dictionary of contemporary English
see — vb 1 See, behold, descry, espy, view, survey, contemplate, observe, notice, remark, note, perceive, discern can all mean to take cognizance of something by physical or sometimes mental vision. See, the most general of these terms, may be used to… … New Dictionary of Synonyms
see|ing — «SEE ihng», conjunction, noun, adjective. –conj. in view of the fact; considering; since: »Seeing that it is 10 o clock, we will wait no longer. Deep harm to disobey, seeing obedience is the bond of rule (Tennyson). SYNONYM(S): because. –n. 1.… … Useful english dictionary
through — 1 /Tru:/ preposition 1 entering something such as a door, passage, tube, or hole at one end or side and leaving it at the other: They were suddenly plunged into darkness as the train went through the tunnel. | The ball went flying through the… … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
