I. _tə, before a vowel following without pause often or regularly təw, after a vowel usually d.ə(w), after a vȯiced consonant often də(w; (|)tü, (ˌ)tu̇ preposition
Etymology: Middle English to, te, from Old English tō (preposition & adverb) & te (preposition); akin to Old Frisian tō to (adverb), to, te, ti (preposition), Old Saxon tō (adverb), te (preposition), Old High German zuo (adverb), za, zi, ze (preposition) to, Latin do nicum, do nec as long as, while, until, dum while, until, Greek -de toward, OLithuanian do to, and probably to Gothic du to
1. — used as a function word to indicate spatial relationships or relationships that suggest motion: as
a. — used as a function word to indicate movement or an action or condition suggestive of movement toward
(1) : a place, person, or thing that is reached or is thought of as being reached
drove to the city
ran to his mother
wore a new hat to the party
a trip to the moon
the boat is to the dock now
went back to his original idea
now to the matter at hand — A.J.Flynn
on the telephone to central casting again — Lee Edson
or
(2) : a place, person, or thing that is not reached or that is not fully reached
turned his back to the door
bowed to an acquaintance
gazed philosophically to a burnished sea — R.W.Clark
leaned to light verse and good humor — Phoenix Flame
the great task … is now far along to completion — A.E.Stevenson b. 1900
talks to the point
or
(3) : a physical force
bring the ship to the wind — C.S.Forester
b. — used as an intensive with where
where will she go to
c. — used as a function word to indicate a place or a thing to which one goes for a temporary stay
has been to his uncle's house once
went in and out to the sickroom — Seumas O'Kelly
was to a show practically every night last week — Edward Newhouse
d. — used as a function word to indicate direction
lived a few miles to the south
a narrow paved road to the right just before the junction — Y.E.Soderberg
a tendency to silliness
e. — used as a function word to indicate contact or proximity: as
(1) : close against : on , upon
his mother standing … with her hands to her eyes — Eve Langley
applied polish to the table
the houses had numbers painted to them — R.H.Newman
(2) : in a state of attention or ready availability to
stands to his post
abundant slave labor was no longer to hand — Lancelot Hogben
(3) : before and straight at especially in defiance
shall live and tell him to his teeth — Shakespeare
f. archaic : at 2a — used with verbs of seeing and smelling
a young girl's heart which he … smelled to like a rosebud — Nathaniel Hawthorne
g.
(1) chiefly substandard : at 1
that time we was making hay to her dad's place — Richard Bissell
(2) chiefly Britain : at the home of — usually used with a personal name
went also to dinner to Birrell — H.J.Laski
h.
(1) — used as a function word to indicate the place or point that is the far limit (as of a measured distance)
100 miles to the nearest town
a short way to the store
(2) — used as a function word to indicate the limit of extent (as in space)
stripped to the waist
wet to the skin
saw through to the man's quality — Hallam Tennyson
i. — used as a function word to indicate relative position
a beam perpendicular to the floor
placed at right angles to the wall
a line tangent to a circle
stop the press if a sheet is not placed correctly to the guides — Theory & Practice of Presswork
2. — used as a function word to indicate purpose, intention, tendency, result, or end: as
a.
(1) : for the purpose of : with a view to : aiming at : for
came to our aid
trained to a religious life
living to ends outside ourselves — O.W.Holmes †1935
tailored to your particular needs
liked to sit down to a game of bridge
(2) : in honor of : with all good wishes for
built temples to their gods
drink to his health
(3) : for the making of : as a constituent part of
tons of ore go to a few ounces of gold
(4) : in support of
calls witnesses to speak to his character
gives abundant testimony to the … committee's ignorance and inefficiency — R.L.Roy
(5) : for the cultivation of : with
when the land was drained he planted it to cabbages and onions — Sherwood Anderson
b.
(1) — used as a function word to indicate the result of an action or a process
broken all to pieces
sharpened to a point
warehouse converted to a church — Alice Griffin
tulips going to seed
a brushy wilderness growing up to scrub oak — Clifton Johnson
(2) : with the result of
seems to argue to the same effect — Herbert Read
to their surprise, the train left on time
c. : in the capacity of : as , for
a sincere desire to have her to wife — J.E.Tilford
d. — used as a function word to indicate a determined condition or end
born to riches
sentenced to death
e. — used as a function word to indicate the object of a right or a claim
a title to the property
the pretender to the throne
3. — used as a function word to indicate a position or a relation in time: as
a. chiefly dialect : at 7
all to once — Helen Eustis
ready to three o'clock — F.T.Elworthy
b.
(1) : before
arrived at five minutes to five
a quarter to six
(2) : till , until
stayed on to the last minute
from eight to five o'clock
his edition … had the fullest and best apparatus to that time — I.M.Price
(3) — used as a function word to indicate a limit in past time
a ceremony dating to the first century — Springfield (Massachusetts) Union
c. — used as a function word usually in combination with from to indicate recurrence or continued succession
a situation that changes from day to day
d. — used as a function word to indicate the precise time of an occurrence
promised to pay to the day
e. chiefly Britain — used as a function word to indicate occurrence at a set time
runs to schedule — advt
a chance to get away to time — Noreen Routledge
4. — used as a function word to indicate addition, attachment, connection, belonging, possession, accompaniment, or response: as
a. archaic : in addition to : besides
foretell new storms to those already spent — Shakespeare
b. : attached to
his fat pony that he drives to a basket phaeton — James Reynolds
publishers would publish anything that had my name to it — G.B.Shaw
a schooner riding to an anchor in the bay — Hall Caine
c. — used as a function word to indicate belonging or possession
descendant of a great house with more than a dash of Italian blood to it — Eric Blom
two rather obvious divisions to the investigation — McGill News
there were green curtains to the bed — Virginia Woolf
the key to the door
had a severe sprain to her ankle — Lucien Price
with a rasping bite to his voice — Current Biography
d. — used as a function word to indicate a special often close relationship of a person to another person, a group, or an organization
nephew to a powerful and wealthy man — Thomas Wolfe
printer to the state — N.A.Crawford
e.
(1) : to the accompaniment of
sang to his guitar
dancing to the radio — Louis Simpson
rides to hounds
nowadays you do it to cocktails — Arnold Bennett
(2) : in complement to : opposite
played Juliet to the Romeo of an unknown newcomer
f. : in response or reaction to
comes to his call
hardly knew what to say to it
retaliate to mockery — Geoffrey Gorer
flimsy houses that shake to the wind
g. : with respect to
witnesses must speak only to facts of which they have direct knowledge — Edward Jenks
liars they are to trade — J.M.Barrie
5.
a. — used as a function word to indicate (1) the extent or degree (as of completeness or accuracy)
assimilate penniless immigrants to a number which is truly astonishing — Samuel Van Valkenburg & Ellsworth Huntington
died two and a half centuries ago to a month — Times Literary Supplement
loyal to a man
would lose his billet to a certainty — Henry Lapham
liked to run his day's program to the fraction of a second — Osbert Sitwell
or (2) the extent and result (as of an action or a condition)
beaten to death
worn to a frazzle
case sense is thus feeble to extinction in English — Weston La Barre
limited his criticism to a few pleasantries
increased the amount to $1000
b.
(1) — used as a function word to indicate the last point or an intermediate point of a series
the climate over the period was moderate to cool — W.E.Swinton
prices are firm to rising — U.S. News & World Report
the quality ranges all the way from very poor to good to excellent
a noncommittal word that might be used of anaything from babies to furnaces — J.C.Swaim
(2) : including
six spades to the ace queen
(3) : varying through the range between two similar colors or two slightly different magnitudes of a color characteristic
a dark grayish olive to olive green
a pale to grayish blue
6. — used as a function word to indicate a relation to one that serves as a standard: as
a.
(1) — used as a function word to indicate similarity, correspondence, dissimilarity, or proportion
compared him to a god
a hat identical to the one she had on
forms different to those in which they familiarly present themselves — John Dewey
seemed to be of another race to them — A. Conan Doyle
knee-high to a grasshopper
(2) : in comparison with
the present annoyances are nothing to the real dangers that might develop
inferior to the earlier works
b.
(1) — used as a function word to indicate agreement or conformity
add salt to taste
found nothing to his purpose — N.J.G.Pounds
composed three operas, all to his own librettos — J.T.Howard
made to certain conventional patterns — C.P.Fitzgerald
drawings give sufficient detail for a fairly skilled man to work to them — British Book News
(2) : according to : within the range of
to the best of my knowledge, this book is still the standard work
to all appearances is really ill
arguing to supposed general principles — Times Literary Supplement
c. — used as a function word to indicate a proportion in terms of numbers or quantities: as (1) the proportion between two things in terms of a significant unit of measurement of one of the things; usually used with the
two monsoon seasons to the year — D.G.Bridson
750 persons to the square mile — John McNulty
or (2) the proportion between two things in terms of a common unit of measurement
is only 28 years old to his brother's 45
hold 60 seats to their opponents' 40
offered odds of nine to one
7.
a.
(1) — used as a function word to indicate the application of an adjective
agreeable to everyone
blind to art
unknown to us
necessary to progress
adequate to our needs
feels cold to your teeth
observable to our senses — W.L.Sullivan
unattainable to ambition — Hugh Wray
(2) — used as a function word to indicate the application of a noun
our attitudes to our friends
enemies to cultivation — James Stevenson-Hamilton
disaster to the army
without charge to the parents — James Britton
similarity to others
a stranger to the country
an interested observer to the changeover — Alaska Sportsman
competitors to the printed word — Joseph Trenaman
(3) — used as a function word to indicate the relation of a verb to its complement or to a complementary element
refers to the traditions
refers him to the traditions
must look to our postural tensions — A.T.Weaver
started to kindergarten — Newsweek
admits to disappointments — R.W.Steel
democracy succumbed to dictatorship — C.E.Black & E.C.Helmreich
to parentage … he owed the sturdy nature that served him well — Thomas Woody
b. — used as a function word to indicate the object of address
spoke to his father about it
hail to thee, blithe Spirit — P.B.Shelley
c.
(1) — used as a function word to indicate the receiver of an action or the one for which something is done or exists
gives a dollar to the man
make alterations to the text — H.G.G.Herklots
the total effect was a gain to reading — Joseph Trenaman
disputes certified to the board by the president — R.L.Putnam
played the piano to royalty
sat to a famous painter
in the way of converts he died to something and had a moment of truth — W.J.Igoe
to their trained eyes and ears the fields are covered by red-hatted riders — W.B.Yeats
— often used with a reflexive pronoun to indicate exclusiveness (as of possession or use) or separateness
the Dutch liner … which they had to themselves on the voyage — P.D.Whitney
medical school gets a chapter to itself — Times Literary Supplement
thought to himself
kept himself to himself — F.W.Crofts
(2) : in the opinion of : from the point of view of
manifestly was somebody to them — Sidney Lovett
to him it seems unnecessary
d.
(1) : at the hands of : through the agency of
falls to the heavy blows of the enemy
loses his closest friend to a violent death — Gene Baro
captivities to thieving barons — R.B.Pearsall
(2) : under the tutelage of
went to school to the same teacher
8. — used as a function word to indicate that the following verb is an infinitive
wants to go
seems to evaporate
something to do
a happier place to be — Irving Kolodin
overcame great opposition to launch modern sanitary legislation — David Spitz
to draw an analogy, we may be able — G.A.Miller
sharpen their wits merely to survive — Harper's
these people … whom it is our duty to properly represent — Congressional Record
— often used by itself at the end of a clause in place of an infinitive suggested by the preceding context
knows more than he seems to
eats less than he ought to
maybe you'd like to go but I don't want to
I can't help it, I have to
Candy? I'd love to
II. |tü adverb
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English tō — more at to I
1.
a.
(1) — used as a function word to indicate direction toward
birds with feathers wrong end to
— used chiefly in the phrase to and fro
children running to and fro
— used formerly in the phrase to and again
work the boat to and again — Daniel Defoe
(2) : close to the wind
the gale having gone over, we came to — R.H.Dana
b. obsolete : in favor : pro — used in the phrases to and again and to and fro
all parties have been heard to and again — Thomas Burton
2.
a. : into contact especially with the frame of a door or a window
the hall door snapped to — Nigel Dennis
b.
(1) — used as a function word to indicate physical application or attachment
set to his seal that it was true
(2) : in or into harness
put the horses to
3. — used as a function word to indicate application or attention
will stand to — Shakespeare
4.
a. : to a state of consciousness or awareness
brings her to with smelling salts
b. archaic : to a state of agreement or acquiescence
forced to use a little fatherly authority to bring her to — Henry Fielding
5. obsolete : again — used in the phrase to and again
6. : at hand : by
get to see 'em close to — Richard Llewellyn