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• to-and-fro
  to-and-fro

  adjective

  back-and-forth.
• to and fro
  to and fro

  adjective

  back and forth

to-and-fro

American  

[too-uhn-froh] / ˈtu ənˈfroʊ /

adjective

1. back-and-forth.

   to-and-fro motion.

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noun

• to-and-fros
  plural

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 British  

adjective

1. back and forth

2. here and there

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to and fro Idioms  

1. 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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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• toing and froing
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• to-and-fros
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of to-and-fro

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

to-and-fro to and fro

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.

From New York Times ● May 23, 2024

Circe’s paws splayed out on the floor, her head shook to-and-fro and she drooled.

From Washington Times ● May 2, 2023

The pandemic might have something to do with accelerating the story shift; in real life, fathers have been taking a bigger role in the to-and-fro of family life during lockdown, and movies are catching up.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2022

It's not like in America where you have that public to-and-fro.

From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2021

There is far less to-and-fro movement between the different groups than happened under capitalism or even in the pre-industrial ages.

From "1984" by George Orwell

The autumn operation exposed flaws too: The land couldn’t accommodate all the vehicles, said Lemmermann, and it consisted of noncontiguous plots, forcing Rheinmetall to bus soldiers to and fro.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025

Shelters have been opened for those displaced from their homes, and helicopters were flying to and fro to bring essentials to people cut off from the rest of the world.

From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2025

"There's still a long way to go and I'm sure it'll be to and fro between now and the very last game," he said.

From BBC ● Feb. 17, 2024

De Jaen jiggers a handle on top of the gray box, which tilts the glass to and fro.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 26, 2024

She sat, rocking to and fro, wondering about many things: what made the wind blow and what was grass and why Neeley was a boy instead of a girl like her.

From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith

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