To Go Through
To Pierce, To Follow Through
transitive verb, godan verb
This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means pierce, so the verb version is to go through or to pierce.
貫く is a relatively formal word, mostly used in writing. It can mean physically piercing something, but more often it means to follow through on your beliefs or goals all the way to the end.
Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you:
The best way to go through someone's mind or a college campus is to run nude (つらぬ). So if you really want to pierce someone's mind and soul remember this!
一度決めたことは、最後まで貫くべきだ。
Once you've decided on something, you should follow through on it to the end.
彼女は沈黙を貫きました。
She remained silent.
新幹線は山々を貫いて都市を結んでいます。
The bullet train pierces through the mountains and connects cities.
カツ丼への愛を貫いた結果、3日で5キロ太った。
I stayed true to my love for katsudon, and as a result I gained 5 kg in three days.
彼の言葉は、鋼鉄の扉を貫く弾丸のように、重く硬くなっていた私の心を貫いた。
His words pierced my hardened and heavy heart like bullets going through a steel door.