The Jargon File (version 4.4.7, 29 Dec 2003):
loop through
vt.
To process each element of a list of things. ?Hold on, I've got to loop
through my paper mail.? Derives from the computer-language notion of an
iterative loop; compare cdr down (under cdr), which is less common among
C and Unix programmers. ITS hackers used to say IRP over after an obscure
pseudo-op in the MIDAS PDP-10 assembler (the same IRP op can nowadays be
found in Microsoft's assembler).
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):
loop
loop through
A sequence of instructions in a program that
the processor repeats, either until some condition is met, or
indefinitely (an infinite loop).
In an structured language (e.g. C, Pascal, BASIC, or
Fortran), a loop is usually achieved with for loop, while
loop or repeat loop constructs.
In other languages these constructs may be synthesised with a
jump (assembly language) or a GOTO (early Fortran or
BASIC).
To "loop through" a list means to process each element in turn.
Hackers might use this for everyday iterative actions, e.g. "I've
got to loop through my paper mail."
(2014-12-20)