à terre
Americanadverb
Etymology
Origin of à terre
Borrowed into English from French around 1920–25
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He moves with complete restraint and yet in the language of classical ballet: arabesques and grand ronds de jambe à terre.
From New York Times ● Apr. 10, 2016
Halfway through my interview with Mary Higgins Clark in her Central Park South pied à terre, an earring slips out of her ear and clatters onto the coffee table.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 10, 2015
Oblivion in particular, with its emphasis on work, comes over as the daydream of some Ernst & Young IT contractor – with Tom Cruise in continuous transit, forever pining after his lakeside pied à terre.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 12, 2013
I can do one of my ronds de jambe à terre.
From New York Times ● Mar. 18, 2012
As I write, the charcoal-woman has climbed the long flights to the fifth floor, bending under the burden of an enormous sack of charbon à terre, but smiling as she puts it down.
From Prisoners of Poverty Abroad by Campbell, Helen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
