TO-AND-FRO Definition & Meaning

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to-and-fro

[ too-uhn-froh ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

back-and-forth:
to-and-fro motion.

noun

plural to-and-fros.

a continuous or regular movement backward and forward; an alternating movement, flux, flow, etc.:
the to-and-fro of the surf.

to and fro

adjective

back and forth
here and there

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Derived Forms

ˈtoing and ˈfroing, noun

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of to-and-fro¹

First recorded in 1820–30; adj. and noun use of adv. phrase to and (fro) ( def 2 )

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Idioms and Phrases

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]

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Example Sentences

Slogans are easy, and they sound really tough, but it’s a little different when you get into the to-and-fro.

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But among female elephants who have recently birthed a calf, ears are not the only parts that hang low and wobble to-and-fro.

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The fixture began a turbulent period of to-and-fro between the sides.

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When the ground began to shake, rocking her bed to-and-fro like a raft in a current, Temilade Openiyi briefly wondered if she was dreaming.

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Spine rattling to-and-fro against the rhythms of the road.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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