TO AND FRO

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does to and fro mean? 

• TO AND FRO (adverb)
  The adverb TO AND FRO has 1 sense:

1. moving from one place to another and back again

  Familiarity information: TO AND FRO used as an adverb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TO AND FRO (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Moving from one place to another and back again

Synonyms:

back and forth; backward and forward; to and fro

Context example:

the old man just sat on the porch and rocked back and forth all day

 Context examples 

Jo obeyed, but as her hand went softly to and fro across Beth's hot forehead and wet eyelids, her heart was very full and she longed to speak.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

At every jump of the schooner, red-cap slipped to and fro, but—what was ghastly to behold—neither his attitude nor his fixed teeth-disclosing grin was anyway disturbed by this rough usage.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The man and the woman stop maybe fifty feet away. Their legs, too, are wide apart so that they do not fall down, and their bodies rock to and fro.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

She gave me the idea of some fierce thing, that was dragging the length of its chain to and fro upon a beaten track, and wearing its heart out.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

On descending to his berth, I found him seated upon a chest with his head sunk upon his hands, rocking himself to and fro.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

After this exploit, I walked gently to and fro on the bed, to recover my breath and loss of spirits.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The dessert was not carried out till after nine and at ten footmen were still running to and fro with trays and coffee- cups.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

London hummed solemnly all around; but nearer at hand, the stillness was only broken by the sounds of a footfall moving to and fro along the cabinet floor.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got beyond words.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Many people were moving to and fro, most of them muffled in their coats and cravats.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)