time

time after time and time and (time)

again repeatedly; over and over (again).

You’ve made the same error time after

time! Please try to be more careful! I’ve

told you time and again not to do that.

You keep saying the same thing over and

over, time and time again. Stop it!

time and (time) again Go to time after

time.

time flies time passes very quickly. (From

the Latin tempus fugit.) I didn’t really

think it was so late when the party ended.

Doesn’t time f ly?  Time simply f lew

while the old friends exchanged news.

Time is money. (My) time is valuable, so

don’t waste it. I can’t afford to spend a

lot of time standing here talking. Time is

money, you know! People who keep say-

ing that time is money may be working too

hard.

the time is ripe Exactly the right time has

come. I’ll tell her the good news when

the time is ripe. The time is ripe to ask

the question again.

Time is up. The allotted time has run out.

You must stop now. Your time is up.

Time’s up! Turn in your tests whether

you’re finished or not.

time off a period of time during which one

does not have to work; free time. The

next time I have some time off, I want to

go to Miami. I don’t have any time off

until next week.

time out 1. to record one’s departure time.

Did you remember to time out when

you left work? I timed out at the regu-

lar time. 2. stopping the clock in a sport-

ing event that is played in a fixed time pe-

riod. The coach made a sign for time

out, and the clock stopped and a buzzer

sounded. After someone called time out,

the players gathered around the coach.

time was (when) there was a time when;

at a time in the past. Time was when

old people were taken care of at home.

Time was when people didn’t travel

around so much.

Time will tell. Something will become

known in the course of time. (Proverb.)

I don’t know if things will improve.

Time will tell. Who knows what the fu-

ture will bring? Only time will tell.

tip someone off to give someone a hint; to

warn someone. (Slang.) I tipped John

off that there would be a test in his alge-

bra class. T I didn’t want to tip off every-

one, so I only told John.

tip the scales at something to weigh some

amount. Tom tips the scales at nearly

200 pounds. I’ll be glad when I tip the

scales at a few pounds less.

tits and ass a public display of [the human

female] breasts and buttocks. (Refers to

television, film, and stage performances

in which women exhibit prominent and

well-formed breasts and buttocks or in

which these body parts are emphasized

or made prominent. Slang. Use caution

with the expression.) We have a really

fine choice on television tonight. There is

brutal violence on channel 2, bloody hor-

ror on channel 5, and tits and ass on chan-

nel 10.  Without tits and ass, many

Broadway musicals would f lop.

to a great extent mainly; largely.

great extent, Mary is the cause of her own

problems. I’ve finished my work to a

great extent. There is nothing important

left to do.

to and fro toward and away from (some-

thing). (Compare this with back and

forth.) The puppy was very active—

running to and fro—wagging its tail.

The lion in the cage moved to and fro,

watching the people in front of the cage.

to beat the band very much; very fast.

(Folksy.) The carpenter sawed and

hammered to beat the band. They baked

cookies and pies to beat the band.

to be on the safe side to be safe; to be

cautious; [to do something just] in case

it is necessary; to be very well prepared.

To be on the safe side, carry some extra

money in your shoe. I like to be on the

safe side and stay in my hotel room at

night.

to be safe to be cautious; to be careful; [to

do something just] in case it is necessary;

to be very well prepared. Just to be safe,

you should take some clean water with you.

Other people like to drive over the speed

limit, but I prefer to be safe.

to boot in addition; besides. (Informal.)

For breakfast I had my usual two eggs and

a slice of ham to boot. When I left for

school, my parents gave me an airplane

ticket and fifty dollars to boot.

to count heads to count people. I’ll tell

you how many people are here after I count

heads.  Everyone is here. Let’s count

heads so we can order hamburgers.

to date up to the present time. How

much have you accomplished to date?

I’ve done everything I’m supposed to have

done to date.

to hell and gone very much gone; gone to

hell. (Use caution with hell.)

hard work is to hell and gone. When you

see everything you’ve planned to hell and

gone, you get kind of angry.

to no avail and of no avail with no effect;

unsuccessful. All of my efforts were to

no avail. Everything I did to help was

of no avail. Nothing worked.

to one’s heart ’s content as much as one

wants. John wanted a week’s vacation

so he could go to the lake and fish to his

heart’s content. I just sat there, eating

chocolate to my heart’s content.

to put it mildly to understate something;

to say something politely. (Note the vari-

ation in the example below.) She was

angry at almost everyone—to put it mildly.

To say she was angry is putting it mildly.

To put it mildly, she was enraged.

to say nothing of someone or something not

to even mention the importance of some-

one or something. John and Mary had

to be taken care of, to say nothing of Bill,

who would require even more attention.

I’m having enough difficulty painting the

house, to say nothing of the garage that is

very much in need of paint.

to say the least at the very least; without

dwelling on the subject; to put it mildly.

We were not at all pleased with her

work—to say the least. When they had

an accident, they were upset to say the

least.

to some extent to some degree; in some

amount; partly. I’ve solved this problem

to some extent. I can help you under-

stand this to some extent.

to someone’s liking in a way that pleases

someone. I hope I’ve done the work to

your liking. Sally didn’t find the meal to

her liking and didn’t eat any of it.

to the best of one’s ability as well as one

is able. I did the work to the best of my

ability. You should always work to the

best of your ability.

to the best of one’s knowledge as far as

one knows; from one’s knowledge.

This is the true story to the best of my

knowledge. To the best of my knowledge,

John is the only person who can answer

that question.

to the bitter end to the very end. (Origi-

nally nautical. This originally had noth-

ing to do with bitterness.) I kept try-

ing to the bitter end. It took me a long

time to get through school, but I worked

hard at it all the way to the bitter end.

to the contrary as the opposite of what has

been stated; contrary to what has been

stated. (Compare this with on the con-

trary.) The brown horse didn’t beat the

black horse. To the contrary, the black one

won. Among spiders, the male is not the

larger one. To the contrary, the female is

larger.

to the core all the way through; basically

and essentially. (Usually with some neg-

ative sense, such as evil, rotten, etc.)

Bill said that John is evil to the core.

This organization is rotten to the core.

to the ends of the earth to the remotest

and most inaccessible points on the

earth. I’ll pursue him to the ends of the

earth. We’ve explored almost the whole

world. We’ve traveled to the ends of the

earth trying to learn about our world.

to the last to the end; to the conclusion.

All of us kept trying to the last. It was

a very boring play, but I sat through it to

the last.

to the letter exactly as instructed; exactly

as written. I didn’t make an error. I fol-

lowed your instruction to the letter. We

didn’t prepare the recipe to the letter, but

the cake still turned out very well.

to the tune of some amount of money a cer-

tain amount of money. (Informal.) My

checking account is overdrawn to the tune

of $340. My wallet was stolen, and I’m

short of money to the tune of seventy

dollars.

To the victors belong the spoils. and To

the victor belongs the spoils. The win-

ners achieve power over people and prop-

erty. (Proverb.) The mayor took office

and immediately fired many workers and

hired new ones. Everyone said, “To the vic-

tors belong the spoils.”  The office of

president includes the right to live in the

White House and at Camp David. To the

victors belong the spoils.

to whom it may concern to the person to

whom this applies. (A form of address

used when you do not know the name of

the person who handles the kind of busi-

ness you are writing about.) The letter

started out, “To whom it may concern.”

When you don’t know who to write to, just

say, “To whom it may concern.”

to wit namely; that is; that is to say. The

criminal was punished; to wit, he received

a 20-year sentence. Many students, to

wit Mary, Bill, Sue, and Anne, complained

about their teacher.

toe the line Go to toe the mark.

toe the mark and toe the line to do what

one is expected to do; to follow the rules.

You’ll get ahead, Sally. Don’t worry. Just

toe the mark, and everything will be okay.

John finally got fired. He just couldn’t

learn to toe the line.

toing and froing (on something) moving

back and forth on an issue, first decid-

ing one way and then changing to an-

other. The boss spent most of the after-

noon toing and froing on the question of

who was to handle the Wilson account.

I wish you would stop toing and froing and

make up your mind.

Tom, Dick, and Harry Go to (every) Tom,

Dick, and Harry.

tone something down to make something

less extreme. That yellow is too bright.

Please try to tone it down. T Can you tone

down your remarks? They seem quite

strong for this situation.

tongue-in-cheek mockingly; insincere;

joking. Ann made a tongue-in-cheek re-

mark to John, and he got mad because he

thought she was serious.   The play

seemed very serious at first, but then

everyone saw that it was tongue-in-cheek,

and they began laughing.

too big for one’s britches too haughty for

one’s status or age. (Also literal. Folksy or

informal. Britches are trousers.) Bill’s

getting a little too big for his britches, and

somebody’s going to straighten him out.

You’re too big for your britches, young

man! You had better be more respectful.

too close for comfort [for a misfortune or

a threat] to be dangerously close. (See

also close to home.) That car nearly hit

me! That was too close for comfort.

When I was in the hospital, I nearly died

from pneumonia. Believe me, that was too

close for comfort.

too good to be true almost unbelievable;

so good as to be unbelievable. The

news was too good to be true. When I

finally got a big raise, it was too good to

be true.

Too many cooks spoil the broth. Go to

Too many cooks spoil the stew.

Too many cooks spoil the stew. and Too

many cooks spoil the broth. Too many

people trying to manage something sim-

ply spoil it. (Proverb.) Let’s decide who

is in charge around here. Too many cooks

spoil the stew. Everyone is giving orders,

but no one is following them! Too many

cooks spoil the broth.

too much of a good thing more of a good

thing than is good or useful. I usually

take short vacations. I can’t stand too

much of a good thing. Too much of a

good thing can make you sick, especially

if the good thing is chocolate.

toot one’s own horn and blow one’s own

horn to boast or praise oneself. Tom

is always tooting his own horn. Is he really

as good as he says he is? I find it hard

to blow my own horn, but I manage.

top someone or something to do or be better

than someone or something. (Informal.)

Ann has done very well, but I don’t

think she can top Jane. Do you think

your car tops mine when it comes to gas

mileage?

top something off to add to the difficulty of

something. Jane lost her job, and to top

that off, she caught the f lu. I had a bad

day, and to top it off, I have to go to a

meeting tonight.

top something off (with something) to end or

terminate something with something; to

put something on the top of something.

They topped the building off with a tall

f lagpole. T He topped off each piece of pie

with a heap of whipped cream. T That’s

the way to top off a piece of pie!

torn between bad choices Go to torn be-

tween choosing something or something else.

torn between choosing something or something

else and torn between bad choices trou-

bled by a choice or dilemma. Jane was

torn between two bad choices. We were

torn between telling our boss the bad news

or keeping it a secret.

toss a salad to mix the green of a salad to-

gether with dressing. The chef tossed

the salad. I tossed the salad just before

my guests arrived.

toss one’s cookies to vomit. (Slang.)

Don’t run too fast after you eat or you’ll

toss your cookies. Oh, I feel terrible. I

think I’m going to toss my cookies.

toss one’s hat into the ring to announce

that one is running for an elective office.

(Informal.) Jane wanted to run for trea-

surer, so she tossed her hat into the ring.

The mayor never tossed his hat into the

ring. Instead he announced his retirement.

toss something off and shake something off

1. to throw something off (of oneself ).

Bob coughed so hard he shook his blan-

ket off. T Tom tossed off his jacket and sat

down to watch television. 2. to ignore or

resist the bad effects of something.

John insulted Bob, but Bob just tossed it off.

T If I couldn’t shake off insults, I’d be

miserable.

touch and go very uncertain or critical.

Things were touch and go at the office un-

til a new manager was hired. Jane had

a serious operation, and everything was

touch and go for two days after her surgery.

touch a sore point Go to touch a sore

spot.

touch a sore spot and touch a sore

point to refer to a sensitive matter that

will upset someone. (Also literal.) I

seem to have touched a sore spot. I’m sorry.

I didn’t mean to upset you. When you

talk to him, avoid talking about money. It’s

best not to touch a sore point if possible.

touch base (with someone) to talk to some-

one; to confer with someone. (Slang.) I

need to touch base with John on this

matter.  John and I touched base on

this question yesterday, and we are in

agreement.

touch on something to mention something;

to talk about something briefly. In to-

morrow’s lecture I’d like to touch on the

matter of taxation. The teacher only

touched on the subject. There wasn’t time

to do more than that.

touch someone or something off 1. [with

someone] to make someone very angry.

Your rude comments touched Mary off.

She’s very angry at you. T I didn’t mean

to touch off anyone. I was only being hon-

est. 2. [with something] to ignite some-

thing; to start something. A few sparks

touched all the fireworks off at once. T The

argument touched off a serious fight.

touch something up to repair a paint job on

something. We don’t need to paint the

whole room. We can just touch the walls

up. T You should touch up scratches on

your car as soon as they occur.

touched by someone or something emotionally

affected or moved by someone or some-

thing. Sally was very nice to me. I was

very touched by her. I was really touched

by your kind letter.

touched (in the head) crazy. (Folksy or

slang.) Sometimes Bob acts like he’s

touched in the head. In fact, I thought

he was touched.

a tough act to follow a good presentation

or performance that is difficult to follow

with one’s own performance. Bill’s

speech was excellent. It was a tough act to

follow, but my speech was good also. In

spite of the fact that I had a tough act to

follow, I did my best.

tough as an old boot Go to (as) tough as

an old boot.

tough break a bit of bad fortune. (Slang.)

I’m sorry to hear about your accident.

Tough break. John had a lot of tough

breaks when he was a kid, but he’s doing

okay now.

tough it out to endure a difficult situation.

(Slang.) Geometry is very hard for John,

but he managed to tough it out until the

end of the year. This was a very bad day

at the office. A few times, I was afraid I

wouldn’t be able to tough it out.

tough nut to crack Go to hard nut to crack.

a tower of strength Go to a pillar of

strength.

town-and-gown the [poor] relations be-

tween a town and the university located

within the town; the [poor] relations be-

tween university students and the non-

students who live in a university town.

There is another town-and-gown dispute

in Adamsville over the amount the uni-

versity costs the city for police services.

There was more town-and-gown strife re-

ported at Larry’s Bar and Grill last Sat-

urday night.

toy with someone or something 1. [with some-

one] to tease someone; to deal lightly

with someone’s emotions. Ann broke

up with Tom because he was just toying

with her. He was not serious at all. Don’t

toy with me! I won’t have it! 2. [with

something] to play or fiddle with some-

thing. Stop toying with the radio, or

you’ll break it. John sat there toying with

a pencil all through the meeting.

trade on something to use a fact or a situa-

tion to one’s advantage. Tom was able

to trade on the fact that he had once been

in the Army. John traded on his poor

eyesight to get a seat closer to the stage.

[train of thought] Go to someone’s train of

thought.

train one’s sights on something and have

one’s sights trained on something to have

something as a goal; to direct something

or oneself toward a goal. You should

train your sights on getting a promotion in

the next year. Lisa has her sights trained

on a new car.

a travesty of justice a miscarriage of jus-

tice; an act of the legal system that is an

insult to the system of justice. The

jury’s verdict was a travesty of justice.

The lawyer complained that the judge’s

ruling was a travesty of justice.

trial and error trying repeatedly for suc-

cess. I finally found the right key after

lots of trial and error. Sometimes trial

and error is the only way to get something

done.

Trick or treat! Give me a treat of some kind

or I will play a trick on you! (The for-

mulaic expression said by children after

they ring someone’s doorbell and the

door is answered on Halloween. It is now

understood to mean simply that the child

is requesting a treat of some kind—

candy, fruit, popcorn, etc.) “Trick or

treat!” cried Jimmy when the door opened.

Mr. Franklin opened the door to find

four very small children dressed like f low-

ers standing silently on his doorstep. After

a moment, he said, “Isn’t anyone going to

say, ‘Trick or treat’?”

trick someone into doing something to fool

someone; to deceive someone; to cheat

someone. The thief tricked John into

giving him $10.   Mary tricked her

friends into paying for her dinner.

tried-and-true tested by time and proven

to be sound. I have a tried-and-true

remedy for poison ivy. All of her invest-

ment ideas are tried-and-true and you

ought to be able to make money if you fol-

low them.