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To and fro

 - 6 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
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).
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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