to-and-fro

[too-uhn-froh]

adjective

1. back-and-forth.

   to-and-fro motion.

noun

plural

to-and-fros 

1. 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

1. back and forth

2. here and there

Other Word Forms

• toing and froing noun

Word 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 )

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]

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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