THOROUGHLY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does thoroughly mean? 

• THOROUGHLY (adverb)
  The adverb THOROUGHLY has 2 senses:

1. in an exhaustive manner

2. completely and absolutely ('good' is sometimes used informally for 'thoroughly')

  Familiarity information: THOROUGHLY used as an adverb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• THOROUGHLY (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

In an exhaustive manner

Synonyms:

exhaustively; thoroughly

Context example:

we searched the files thoroughly

Pertainym:

thorough (painstakingly careful and accurate)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Completely and absolutely ('good' is sometimes used informally for 'thoroughly')

Synonyms:

good; soundly; thoroughly

Context example:

we beat him good

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

Pertainym:

thorough (performed comprehensively and completely; not superficial or partial)

 Context examples 

“What a thoroughly good and charming wife she is, my dear Traddles!” said I, when she had gone away, laughing.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very thoroughly.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Well, you seem to have cross-examined her pretty thoroughly.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You will soon, I earnestly hope, know her thoroughly yourself.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

It brought to life and light my whole nature: in his presence I thoroughly lived; and he lived in mine.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He had come to know quite thoroughly the world in which he lived.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

From what he said of Miss Darcy I was thoroughly prepared to see a proud, reserved, disagreeable girl.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Now it is essential—essential, I say—that I should thoroughly understand it.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

His countenance was thoroughly good-humoured; and his manners were as friendly as the style of his letter.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

All these they now thoroughly examined.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)