Dictionary

to and fro en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˌtuː ən(d)ˈfɹəʊ/
• audio Pacific Northwest

Meanings

1. (dated, not-comparable) Pertaining to something or someone moving forward and back to the same position.
   • The next day he had more power of moving his limbs, and the to and fro sound was thought to be a little less distinct. 1847, Peter Mere Latham, Lectures on subjects connected with clinical medicine, comprising diseases, page 90:

Forms

Translations (2)

es de vaivén (pertaining to something in to and fro motion) · fi edestakainen (pertaining to something in to and fro motion)

to and fro en · ADV

Pronunciation

• /ˌtuː ən(d)ˈfɹəʊ/
• audio Pacific Northwest

Meanings

1. (not-comparable) Back and forth; with a reciprocating motion.
   • But presently the fumes of the wine rising to his head, he became helplessly drunk and his side-muscles and limbs relaxed and he swayed to and fro on my back. When I saw that he had lost his senses for drunkenness, I put my head to his legs and, loosing them from my neck, stooped down well-nigh to the ground and threw him at full length, […] 1885–1888, Richard F[rancis] Burton, transl. and editor, A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments, now Entituled The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night […], Shammar edition, volume (please specify the volume), [London]: […] Burton Club […], →OCLC:
   • He bends his knees more than the white man, and oscillates more to and fro, or from side to side. 1886, John Burroughs, Winter Sunshine, page 13:
   • A light tossing to and fro and still rapidly advancing showed that one of the newcomers carried a lantern. 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 4, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
   • Article V.—In consideration of the numerous difficulties arising from the authority exercised by local officials over the legal traffic at such places on the boundary as I-chou, Hui-ning, and Ch’ing-yuan, it has now been decided that the people on the frontier shall be free to go to and fro and trade as they please at Ts’e-men and I-chou on the two sides of the Ya-lu River, and at Hun-ch’un and Hui-ning on the two sides of the T’u-men River. 1882, G. W. Keeton, “Regulations for Maritime and Overland Trade between Chinese and Korean Subjects, 1882”, in The Development of Extraterritoriality in China, volume II, Longmans, Green & Co., published 1928, →OCLC, page 341:
   • Even charges hopping on a larger array of localized sites than the two sites in (ii) execute normally many more to-and-fro oscillating motions than ... 1979, National Academy of Sciences (U.S.), IEEE Electrical Insulation Society, tAnnual report - Conference on Electrical Insulation and Dielectric Phenomena, page 396:

Forms

Descendants

tû en vrô

Translations (55)

fr d'avant en arrière (back and forth) · it avanti e indietro (back and forth) · es para adelante y para atrás (back and forth) · ang hider and þider (back and forth) · fi edestakaisin (back and forth) · ang hider and geond (back and forth) · pl tam i z powrotem (back and forth) · es en vaivén (back and forth) · sv av och an (back and forth) · hu té s tova (back and forth) · tr ileri geri (back and forth) · cy ôl a blaen (back and forth) · csb w tã ë nazôd (back and forth) · sa वि (back and forth) · de hin und zurück (back and forth) · hu ide-oda (back and forth) · sv fram och åter (back and forth) · nb fram og tilbake (back and forth) · ta முன்னும் பின்னும் (back and forth) · ru туда́-сюда́ (back and forth) · da frem og tilbage (back and forth) · nn til og frå (back and forth) · ja 行ったり来たり (back and forth) · pt para frente e para trás (back and forth) · scn avanti e 'n arreri (back and forth) · sv hit och dit (back and forth) · cs sem tam (back and forth) · de hin und her (back and forth) · az o yan-bu yan (back and forth) · nb frem og tilbake (back and forth) · txb orkäntai (back and forth) · ru взад и вперёд (back and forth) · hu előre-hátra (back and forth) · nb til og fra (back and forth) · oc en avant e en rèire (back and forth) · nl op en neer (back and forth) · cmn 來來回回 /来来回回 (back and forth) · yo lọ́tùn-ún lósì (back and forth) · de vor und zurück (back and forth) · pl w tę i we w tę (back and forth) · nl heen en weer (back and forth) · pl w tę i nazad (back and forth) · tr bir ileri bir geri (back and forth) · nn fram og attende (back and forth) · sv fram och tillbaka (back and forth) · da til og fra (back and forth) · cmn 來回 /来回 (back and forth) · ko 이리저리 (back and forth) · es de ida y de vuelta (back and forth) · el μπρος πίσω (back and forth) · hu oda-vissza (back and forth) · es palante y patrás (back and forth) · cs sem a tam (back and forth) · yo sọ́tùn-ún sósì (back and forth) · eo tien kaj reen (back and forth)

to and fro en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌtuː ən(d)ˈfɹəʊ/
• audio Pacific Northwest

Meanings

1. (dated) The movement (of someone or something) forward followed by a return to the same position. May refer to a concept such as an emotional state or a relationship as well as a physical thing.
   • My life's a maze of seeming traps, A scene of mercies and mishaps; A heap of jarring to and fros, A field of joys, A field of woes. 1849, Ralph Erskine, Gospel sonnets; or, Spiritual songs, page 233:

Forms

Translations (4)

es vaiveneo (a to and fro motion) · el πηγαινέλα (a to and fro motion) · fr va-et-vient (a to and fro motion) · fr aller-retour (a to and fro motion)

to and fro en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˌtuː ən(d)ˈfɹəʊ/
• audio Pacific Northwest

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) To go back and forth; to alternate.
   • "For a while I didn't tell anyone on the ward where I was going, but my toing and froing made people curious and eventually I confided in a few." 2015, Barbara Taylor, The Last Asylum: A Memoir of Madness in Our Times:

Forms

Translations (2)

fi mennä edestakaisin (pertaining to something in to and fro motion) · es vaivenearse (pertaining to something in to and fro motion)