adv.
Pronunciation: t ə , tu ̇ , ' tü
Function: preposition
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English t ō ; akin to Old High German zuo to, Latin do nec as longitude as, until
Date: before 12th century
1 a ― used as a function word to indicate movement or an action or condition suggestive of movement toward a place, person, or thing reached <drove to the city> <went back to the original idea> <went to lunch> b ― used as a function word to indicate direction <a mile to the south> <turned his back to the door> <a tendency to silliness> c ― used as a function word to indicate contact or proximity <applied polish to the table> <put her hand to her heart> d (1) ― used as a function word to indicate the place or point that is the far limit <100 miles to the nearest town> (2) ― used as a function word to indicate the limit of extent <stripped to the waist> e ― used as a function word to indicate relative position <perpendicular to the floor>
2 a ― used as a function word to indicate purpose, intention, tendency, result, or end <came to our aid> <drink to his health> b ― used as a function word to indicate the result of an action or a process <broken all to pieces> <go to seed> < to their surprise, the train left on time>
3 ― used as a function word to indicate position or relation in time: as a : BEFORE <five minutes to five> b : TILL <from eight to five> <up to now>
4 ― used as a function word to indicate addition, attachment, connection, belonging, possession, accompaniment, or response <the key to the door> <danced to live music> <comes to her call>
5 ― used as a function word (1) to indicate the extent or degree (as of completeness or accuracy) <loyal to a man> <generous to a fault> or the extent and result (as of an action or a condition) <beaten to death> (2) to indicate the last or an intermediate point of a series <moderate to cool temperatures>
6 a ― used as a function word (1) to indicate a relation to one that serves as a standard <inferior to her earlier works> (2) to indicate similarity, correspondence, dissimilarity, or proportion <compared him to a god> b ― used as a function word to indicate agreement or conformity <add salt to taste> < to my knowledge> c ― used as a function word to indicate a proportion in terms of numbers or quantities <400 to the box> <odds of ten to one>
7 a ― used as a function word (1) to indicate the application of an adjective or a noun <agreeable to everyone> <attitude to friends> <title to the property> (2) to indicate the relation of a verb to its complement or to a complementary element <refers to the traditions> <refers us to the traditions> (3) to indicate the receiver of an action or the one for which something is done or exists <spoke to his mother> <gives a dollar to the man> and often used with a reflexive pronoun to indicate exclusiveness (as of possession) or separateness <had the house to themselves> <thought to herself> b ― used as a function word to indicate agency <falls to his opponent's blows>
8 ― used as a function word to indicate that the following verb is an infinitive <wants to go> and often used by itself at the end of a clause in place of an infinitive suggested by the preceding context <knows more than she seems to >