pull through

To come through pain and trouble through perseverance.

Noun

To come through pain and trouble through perseverance.
- There was once a poor, very poor widow, who had an only son. She pulled through with the boy till he was confirmed; but then she told him that she could not feed him any longer; he would have to go out and earn his own...
- Dr. Gilman's race horse was bad last week; fortunately Mr. Verney, the District Veterinary Surgeon, succeeded in pulling him through. - 1901 April 12, “District Reports”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record,...
- At one time it looked as though he could not live more than a few hours, and I am convinced that it was only through the Dutchman's doggedness that he pulled through. - 1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 26”, in...
To assist someone through difficulties, injury, pain, etc.
- "Dr. Van-Herne is confident of pulling Godfrey through, isn't he?" - 1936, F.J. Thwaites, chapter XV, in The Redemption, Sydney: H. John Edwards, published 1940, page 176:
To clean the barrel of a firearm using a pull through.