to the end of the chapter
To the end of a proceeding. The allusion is obvious.
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to the fore
Becoming prominent or noticeable
to the gills
completely or extremely full
to the horns of the altar
Usque ad aras amicus. Your friend even to the horns of the altar — i.e. through thick and thin. In swearing, the ancient Romans held the horns of the altar, and one who did so in testimony of friendship could not break his oath without calling on himself the vengeance of the angry gods.
to the house
Home.
to the limit
to the maximum extent or degree
to the marrow
completely or utterly
to the max
to the greatest extent possible
to the moon and back
Recognized English idiom; full definition pending editorial review.
to the nines
To the dodges of the day. "He’s up to the NINES," means he’s up to everything. "Dressed to the NINES," means dressed loudly, or, as it is more generally known now, "dressed to death."
to the nth degree
To an extreme or utmost level
to the point
Direct and concise, without unnecessary detail
to the T
Exactly as described or expected
to the tee
Exactly as something is described or expected
to the tonsils
completely, utterly, or totally
to the tune of
To the amount of; as, "I had to pay up to the tune of £500." Tuneful Nine, The. The nine Muses (q.v,). When thy young Muse invok'd the tuneful Nine, To say how Louis did not pass the RHINE, What Work had We with WAGENINGHEN, ARNHEIM, Places that could not be reduced to Rhime?
to the victor go the spoils
The winner of a conflict gets the benefits and rewards
to think small potatoes of it
To think very little of it, to account it of very slight worth, or importance.
to throw down the gauntlet
To challenge. The custom in the Middle Ages, when one knight challenged another, was for the chal- lenger to throw his gauntlet on the ground, and if the challenge was accepted the person to whom it was thrown picked it up.
to throw dust in one's eyes
To mislead. The allusion is to "the swiftest runner in a sandy race, who to make his fellowes follow aloofe, casteth dust with his heeles into their envious eyes" (Cotgrave, 1611).
to throw hack
To revert to ancestral traits; hence, a throw-back is one (human or animal) who does this.
to throw in one's hand
To abandon one's projects. A metaphor from card-playing.
to throw the hatchet
To exaggerate heavily, tell falsehoods. In allusion to an ancient game where hatchets were thrown at a mark, like quoits. It means the same as drawing the longbow (q.v.).
to throw up the cards
To give up as a bad job; to acknowledge you have no hope of success. In some games of cards, as poker, a player has the liberty of saying whether he will play or not, and if his hand is hopelessly bad he throws in his cards and sits out till the next deal.
to thrum
To play on any instrument stringed with wire. A thrummer of wire; a player on the spinet, harpsichord, of guitar.
to thumb a ride
To ask for a lift in a motor car by holding out the hand with the thumb pointing in the direction in which one wants to go.
to tickle the ears
To gratify the ear either by pleasing sounds or flattering words.
to tip
To give or lend. Tip me your daddle; give me your hand. Tip me a hog; give me a shilling. To tip the lion; to flatten a man's nose with the thumb, and, at the same time to extend his mouth, with the fingers, thereby giving him a sort of lion-like countenance. To tip the velvet; tonguing woman. To tip all nine; to knock down all the nine pins at once, at the game of bows or skittles: tipping, at these gaines, is slightly touching the tops of the pins with the bowl.
to tip one the wink
To give him a hint privately; to "put him wise.
to titter
To suppress a laugh.
to toe the mark
To line up abreast of the others; so, to "fall in" and do one's duty.
to top
To cheat, or trick: also to insult: he thought to have topped upon me. Top; the signal among taylors for snuffing the candles: he who last pronounces that word word, is obliged to get up and perform the operation.--to be topped; to be hanged. The cove was topped for smashing queerscreens; he was hanged for uttering forged bank notes.
to toss the oars
To raise them vertically, resting on the handles. It is a form of salute.
to touch bottom
To reach the lowest depth. A horse of good bottom means of good stamina, good foundation.
to touch one on the raw
To mention some- thing that makes a person wince, like touching a horse on a raw place in currying him.
to tower
To overlook, to rise aloft as in a high tower.
to track
To go. Track up the dancers; go up stairs. CANT.
to trade something off
To barter or ex- change it; to sell it as a "job lot.
to trade upon
To make use of so as to obtain some advantage. The phrase is usually employed to describe the unscrupulous use of private knowledge or even of a personal affliction to arouse sympathy.
to trample under foot
To oppress, or out- rage; to treat with the greatest contempt and discourtesy.
to transnear
To come up with any body.
to trapan
To inveigle, or ensnare.
to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive
Anticipation is often more enjoyable than the actual outcome.
to tread oil his corns
To irritate his prejudices; to annoy another by disregard to» his pet opinions or habits.
to tread upon eggs
To walk gingerly, as if walking over eggs, which are easily broken.
to trig it
To play truant. To lay a man trigging; to knock him down.
to troll
To loiter or saunter about.
to truss his points
To tie the points of hose. The points were the cords pointed with metal, like shoe-laces, attached to doublets and hose; being very numerous, some second person was required to "truss" them or fasten them properly.
to tuck one up
To finish him, do for him. The allusion is probably to tucking children up in bed for the night — they are finished with till next morning; but there may be some reference to the long narrow duellist's rapier formerly called a tuck (Fr. etoc, stock).
to tune
To beat: his father tuned him delightfully: perhaps from fetching a tune out of the person beaten, or from a comparison with the disagreeable sounds of instruments when tuning.
to tup
To have carnal knowledge of a woman.
to turn a deaf ear
To refuse to listen; to refuse to accede to a request. Walls have ears. See WALL.
to turn cat-in-pan
To turn traitor, to be a turncoat. The phrase seems to be the Fr. tourner cote en peine (to turn sides in trouble).
to turn down
To reject; a candidate at an examination, election, etc., who does not meet with success is said to be turned down.
to turn the heat on
To subject to a severe cross-examination, to grill. Heath Robinson is a phrase popularly applied to any fantastic but ingenious contraption — usually of bits of string and wood.
to turn the scale
Just to outweigh the other side. Thy presence turns the scale of doubtful fight, Tremendous God of battles, Lord of Hosts!
to turn the tables
To reverse the conditions or relations; as, for instance, to rebut a charge by bringing forth a counter-charge. The phrase comes from the old custom of reversing the table or board, in games such as chess and draughts, so that the opponent's relative position is altogether changed.
to turn turtle
To turn completely over, upside down, topsy-turvy. Usually said of boats, from the fact that a turtle, when turned on its back, is quite helpless.
to turn up
To arrive, often unexpectedly; to appear.
to turn up one's nose
To express contempt. When a person sneers he turns up the nose by curling the upper lip.
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