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To and fro

 - 8 dictionary results

to-and-fro

  [too-uhn-froh] adjective, noun, plural -fros.
Use To and fro in a Sentence
–adjective
1. back-and-forth: to-and-fro motion.
–noun
2. a continuous or regular movement backward and forward; an alternating movement, flux, flow, etc.: the to-and-fro of the surf.
Origin:
1820–30; adj. and n. use of adv. phrase to and fro, ME; see fro (def. 2)

fro

  [froh]
–adverb
1. Obsolete. from; back.
—Idiom
2. to and fro, alternating from one place to another; back and forth: The trees were swaying to and fro in the wind.
Origin:
1150–1200; ME frō, frā < ON frā from; akin to OE fram from

to

  [too; unstressed too, tuh]
–preposition
1. (used for expressing motion or direction toward a point, person, place, or thing approached and reached, as opposed to from): They came to the house.
2. (used for expressing direction or motion or direction toward something) in the direction of; toward: from north to south.
3. (used for expressing limit of movement or extension): He grew to six feet.
4. (used for expressing contact or contiguity) on; against; beside; upon: a right uppercut to the jaw; Apply varnish to the surface.
5. (used for expressing a point of limit in time) before; until: to this day; It is ten minutes to six. We work from nine to five.
6. (used for expressing aim, purpose, or intention): going to the rescue.
7. (used for expressing destination or appointed end): sentenced to jail.
8. (used for expressing agency, result, or consequence): to my dismay; The flowers opened to the sun.
9. (used for expressing a resulting state or condition): He tore it to pieces.
10. (used for expressing the object of inclination or desire): They drank to her health.
11. (used for expressing the object of a right or claim): claimants to an estate.
12. (used for expressing limit in degree, condition, or amount): wet to the skin; goods amounting to $1000; Tomorrow's high will be 75 to 80°.
13. (used for expressing addition or accompaniment) with: He added insult to injury. They danced to the music. Where is the top to this box?
14. (used for expressing attachment or adherence): She held to her opinion.
15. (used for expressing comparison or opposition): inferior to last year's crop; The score is eight to seven.
16. (used for expressing agreement or accordance) according to; by: a position to one's liking; to the best of my knowledge.
17. (used for expressing reference, reaction, or relation): What will he say to this?
18. (used for expressing a relative position): parallel to the roof.
19. (used for expressing a proportion of number or quantity) in; making up: 12 to the dozen; 20 miles to the gallon.
20. (used for indicating the indirect object of a verb, for connecting a verb with its complement, or for indicating or limiting the application of an adjective, noun, or pronoun): Give it to me. I refer to your work.
21. (used as the ordinary sign or accompaniment of the infinitive, as in expressing motion, direction, or purpose, in ordinary uses with a substantive object.)
22. Mathematics. raised to the power indicated: Three to the fourth is 81 (34 = 81).
–adverb
23. toward a point, person, place, or thing, implied or understood.
24. toward a contact point or closed position: Pull the door to.
25. toward a matter, action, or work: We turned to with a will.
26. into a state of consciousness; out of unconsciousness: after he came to.
—Idiom
27. to and fro. fro (def. 2).
Origin:
bef. 900; ME, OE tō; c. D te, toe, G zu
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To To and fro
to and fro  
adv.  Back and forth.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
Afro

and fro
  1. n.
    a hairdo, sometimes worn by American blacks, where the hair appears to be a large puffy ball. (From African.) : Man, I thought Afros went out in the sixties! , This rain's gonna ruin my fro!
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

fro 
"away, backwards," c.1200, North Eng. and Scot. dial. fra, Midlands dial. fro, from O.N. fra "from" (see from).

to 
O.E. to "in the direction of, for the purpose of, furthermore," from W.Gmc. *to (cf. O.S., O.Fris. to, Du. too, O.H.G. zuo, Ger. zu "to"), from PIE pronomial base *do- "to, toward, upward" (cf. L. donec "as long as," O.C.S. do "as far as, to," Gk. suffix -de "to, toward," O.Ir. do, Lith. da-). In O.E., the preposition (go to town) leveled with the adverb (the door slammed to) except where the adverb retained its stress (tired and hungry too); there it came to be written with -oo (see too). The nearly universal use of to with infinitives (to sleep, to dream, etc.) arose in M.E. out of the O.E. dative use of to, and helped drive out the O.E. inflectional endings (though in this use to itself is a mere sign, without meaning). Commonly used as a prefix in M.E. (to-hear "listen to," etc.), but few of these survive (to-do, together, and time references like today, tonight, tomorrow -- Chaucer also has to-yeere). To and fro "side to side" is attested from 1340. Phrase what's it to you "how does that concern you?" goes back a long way:
"Huæd is ðec ðæs?"
[John xxi.22, in Lindisfarne Gospel, c.950]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

to and fro

Back and forth, as in He was like a caged animal, pacing to and fro. Strictly speaking, to means "toward" and fro "away from," but this idiom is used more vaguely in the sense of "moving alternately in different directions." [First half of 1300s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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