THAT IS TO SAY

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does that is to say mean? 

• THAT IS TO SAY (adverb)
  The adverb THAT IS TO SAY has 1 sense:

1. as follows

  Familiarity information: THAT IS TO SAY used as an adverb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• THAT IS TO SAY (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

As follows

Synonyms:

namely; that is to say; to wit; videlicet; viz.

 Context examples 

In three days—that is to say, on Monday next—matters will be ripe, and the Professor, with all the principal members of his gang, will be in the hands of the police.

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

“He stood,” said Holmes, “to the left of the door—that is to say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?”

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

“My grand-nephew, that is to say,” observed my aunt.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

That is to say, the extracts taken from these items of clothing behaved like the female hormone and they antagonised male hormones.

(Nine out of ten pairs of baby socks on the market contain traces of bisphenol A and parabens, University of Granada)

That is to say, Lord Avon, that any defence which you may have to make will be decided upon by your peers and by the laws of your country.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I must tell you beforehand that Mr. Morris doesn't always speak slang—that is to say, he never does so to strangers or before them, for he is really well educated and has exquisite manners—but he found out that it amused me to hear him talk American slang, and whenever I was present, and there was no one to be shocked, he said such funny things.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

We must all feel at times the difficulty of fixing our thoughts as we could wish; but if you are supposing it a frequent thing, that is to say, a weakness grown into a habit from neglect, what could be expected from the private devotions of such persons?

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

If the study to which you apply yourself has a tendency to weaken your affections and to destroy your taste for those simple pleasures in which no alloy can possibly mix, then that study is certainly unlawful, that is to say, not befitting the human mind.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

And a very well-spoken, genteel, shrewd lady, she seemed to be, continued he; asked more questions about the house, and terms, and taxes, than the Admiral himself, and seemed more conversant with business; and moreover, Sir Walter, I found she was not quite unconnected in this country, any more than her husband; that is to say, she is sister to a gentleman who did live amongst us once; she told me so herself: sister to the gentleman who lived a few years back at Monkford.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

However, some plants have specialized in selfing (also called ‘autogamy’), that is to say, fertilizing themselves without the need of crossing whit another plant, explains Mohamed Abdelaziz Mohamed, professor from the UGR Department of Genetics and main author of this study.

(Some plants are capable of ‘rubbing’ themselves for hours in order to achieve self fertilization, University of Granada)