ぬくCarry through to the end
This suffix says that someone carries an action all the way to its endpoint, usually by persisting through difficulty, pressure, or a demanding stretch of time.
Endpoint plus perseverance
The important idea is not merely that the action finished. The speaker presents the full course as difficult or demanding and focuses on the effort needed to reach the end. Natural bases include enduring hardship, surviving, thinking something through, protecting a commitment, and completing a challenging course.
Typical uses
Notice how each sentence makes both the demanding span and its endpoint clear.
激しい雨の中、彼は百キロのコースを走り抜いた。
In heavy rain, he ran the entire hundred-kilometer course.
Analyze資金不足に苦しみながらも、彼女は五年がかりの研究をやり抜いた。
Despite struggling with a lack of funding, she carried the five-year research project through to completion.
Analyze住民たちは限られた食料で厳しい冬を耐え抜いた。
The residents endured the harsh winter with limited food.
AnalyzeChoose the base verb carefully
This pattern is not freely added to every action that happens to end. It works best in established combinations where completing the action requires sustained effort or resistance to difficulty. When there is no meaningful challenge or extended course, a simpler completion expression is usually more natural.
何日も考え抜いた末に、計画を一から見直すことにした。
After thinking it through for days, I decided to reconsider the plan from the beginning.
Analyze考え抜く suggests continuing to think until one has explored the matter thoroughly.
Perseverance versus simple completeness
切る often emphasizes doing something completely or exhaustively. By contrast, ぬく normally draws attention to persistence through a difficult course. In the following sentence, completeness matters, but no obstacle or struggle is presented.
説明書を最後まで読み切った。
I read the instruction manual all the way through.
AnalyzeMore examples
彼はどんな圧力にも屈せず、仲間との約束を守り抜いた。
He resisted every kind of pressure and kept his promise to his colleagues to the end.
Analyze両チームは延長戦の最後まで戦い抜いた。
Both teams fought on through the end of extra time.
Analyzeわずかな食料と水で、遭難者は一週間を生き抜いた。
The stranded person survived for a week on very little food and water.
Analyze納得できる答えが出るまで、二人で考え抜いた。
The two of us kept thinking it through until we found an answer we could accept.
Analyze批判を受けても、自分の信念を貫き抜く覚悟だ。
I am prepared to hold fast to my convictions despite criticism.
Analyzeこの仕事は簡単ではないが、最後までやり抜こう。
This job will not be easy, but let us see it through to the end.
Analyze