[to pass] See: COME TO PASS.
[top-drawer]{adj.}, {informal} Of the best; or most important kind. •/Mary’s art work was top-drawer material./ •/Mr. Rogers is a top-drawer executive and gets a very high salary./
[topflight] or [topnotch] See: TOP DRAWER.
[to pieces]{adv. phr.} 1. Into broken pieces or fragments; destroyed. •/The cannon shot the town to pieces./ •/The vase fell to pieces in Mary’s hand./ 2. {informal} So as not to work; into a state of not operating. •/After 100,000 miles the car went to pieces./ •/When Mary heard of her mother’s death, she went to pieces./ 3. {informal} Very much; greatly; exceedingly. •/Joan was thrilled to pieces to see Mary./ •/The noise scared Bob to pieces./ 4. See: PICK APART.
[top off]{v.} To come or bring to a special or unexpected ending; climax. •/John batted three runs and topped off the game with a home run./ •/Mary hadn’t finished her homework, she was late to school, and to top it all off she missed a surprise test./ •/George had steak for dinner and topped it off with a fudge sundae./
[to put It mildly] See: TO SAY THE LEAST.
[torch] See: CARRY A TORCH.
[to reason] See: STAND TO REASON.
[to rest] See: LAY TO REST.
[to rights] See: PUT TO RIGHTS or SET TO RIGHTS.
[to Rome] See: ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME.
[to say nothing of] See: NOT TO MENTION.
[to say the least]{v. phr.} To understate; express as mildly as possible. •/After all we did for him, his behavior toward us, to say the least, was a poor way to show his appreciation./
[to scale]{adv. phr.} In the same proportions as in the true size; in the same shape, but not the same size. •/The statue was made to scale, one inch to a foot./ •/He drew the map to scale, making one inch represent fifty miles./
[to sea] See: PUT TO SEA.
[to shame] See: PUT TO SHAME.
[to size] See: CUT DOWN TO SIZE.
[to speak of]{adj. phr.}, {informal} Important; worth talking about; worth noticing. — Usually used in negative sentences. •/Did it rain yesterday? Not to speak of./ •/What happened at the meeting? Nothing to speak of./ •/Judy’s injuries were nothing to speak of; just a few scratches./ Compare: NOT TO MENTION.
[to spite one’s face] See: CUT OFF ONE’S NOSE TO SPITE ONE’S FACE.
[toss off]{v. phr.} 1. To drink rapidly; drain. •/He tossed off two drinks and left./ 2. To make or say easily without trying or thinking hard. •/She tossed off smart remarks all during dinner./ •/He thinks a reporter should be able to toss off an article every few hours./
[toss one to the sharks] See: THROW ONE TO THE WOLVES.
[toss out] See: THROW OUT.
[total] See: SUM TOTAL.
[to task] See: TAKE TO TASK.
[to terms] See: BRING TO TERMS, COME TO TERMS.
[to that effect]{adj.} or {adv. phr.} With that meaning. •/She said she hated spinach, or words to that effect./ •/When I leave, I will write you to that effect so you will know./
[to the best of one’s knowledge] As far as you know; to the extent of your knowledge. •/He has never won a game, to the best of my knowledge./ •/To the best of my knowledge he is a college man, but I may be mistaken./
[to the bitter end]{adv. phr.} To the point of completion or conclusion. — Used especially of a very painful or unpleasant task or experience. •/Although Mrs. Smith was bored by the lecture, she stayed to the bitter end./ •/They knew the war would be lost, but the men fought to the bitter end./
[to the bone]{adv.}, {slang}, {informal} Thoroughly, entirely, to the core, through all layers. •/I am dreadfully tired; I’ve worked my fingers to the bone./ See: ALSO WORK ONE’S FINGERS TO THE BONE.
[to the bottom] See: GET TO THE BOTTOM OF.
[to the contrary]{adv.} or {adj. phr.} With an opposite result or effect; just the opposite; in disagreement; saying the opposite. •/Although Bill was going to the movies, he told Joe to the contrary./ •/We will expect you for dinner unless we get word to the contrary./ •/School gossip to the contrary, Mary is not engaged to be married./ Compare: ON THE CONTRARY.
[to the effect that]{adj. phr.} With the meaning or purpose; to say that. •/He made a speech to the effect that we would all keep our jobs even if the factory were sold./ •/The new governor would do his best in the office to which he had been elected./
[to the eye]{adv. phr.} As it is seen; as a person or thing first seems; apparently. •/That girl looks to the eye like a nice girl to know, but she is really rather mean./ •/That suit appears to the eye to be a good buy, but it may not be./ Compare: AT FIRST GLANCE.
[to the fore]{adv.} or {adj. phr.} Into leadership; out into notice or view; forward. •/The hidden skill of the lawyer came to the fore during the trial./ •/In the progress of the war some new leaders came to the fore./
[to the full]{adv. phr.} Very much; fully. •/The campers enjoyed their trip to the full./ •/We appreciated to the full the teacher’s help./ Compare: TO THE HILT.
[to the gallery] See: PLAY TO THE GALLERY.
[to the good]{adv. phr.} On the side of profit or advantage; in one’s favor; to one’s benefit; ahead. •/After I sold my stamp collection, I was ten dollars to the good./ •/The teacher did not see him come in late, which was all to the good./
[to the grindstone] See: KEEP ONE’S NOSE TO THE GRINDSTONE.
[to the heart] See: GET TO THE HEART OF.
[to the hilt] or [up to the hilt] {adv. phr.} To the limit; as far as possible; completely. •/The other boys on the team told Tom he couldn’t quit. They said, "You’re in this to the hilt."/ •/The Smith’s house is mortgaged up to the hilt./ Compare: HEART AND SOUL, TO THE FULL, UP TO THE --- IN.
[to the kings taste] or [to the queen’s taste] {adv. phr.} Perfectly; just as anyone could want it; very satisfactorily. •/The rooms in her new home were painted and decorated to the queen’s taste./ •/The soldiers dressed and marched to the king’s taste./
[to the letter]{adv. phr.} With nothing done wrong or left undone; exactly; precisely. •/He carried out his orders to the letter./ •/When writing a test you should follow the instructions to the letter./ Compare: TO A T.
[to the manner born]{adj. phr.} At ease with something because of lifelong familiarity with it. •/She says her English is the best because she is to the manner born./
[to the nth degree]{adv. phr.} To the greatest degree possible; extremely; very much so. •/Scales must be accurate to the nth degree./ •/His choice of words was exactly to the nth degree./
[to the point] See: COME TO THE POINT.
[to the punch] See: BEAT TO THE PUNCH.
[to the ribs] See: STICK TO ONE’S RIBS or STICK TO THE RIBS.
[to the salt mines] See: BACK TO THE SALT MINES.
[to the stump] See: TAKE THE STUMP or TAKE TO THE STUMP.
[to the sword] See: PUT TO THE SWORD.
[to the tune of]{adv. phr.}, {informal} To the amount or extent of; in the amount of. •/He had to pay to the tune of fifty dollars for seeing how fast the car would go./ •/When she left the race track she had profited to the tune of ten dollars./
[to the wall]{adv. phr.} Into a place from which there is no escape; into a trap or corner. — Usually used after "drive" or a similar word. •/John’s failing the last test drove him to the wall./ •/The score was 12-12 in the last minute of play, but a touchdown forced the visitors to the wall./ •/Bill had to sell his five Great Danes. The high cost of feeding them was driving him to the wall./
[to the wolves] See: THROW TO THE WOLVES.
[to the woods] See: TAKE TO THE WOODS.
[to the world] See: DEAD TO THE WORLD.
[to think of it] See: COME TO THINK OF IT.
[toto] See: IN TOTO.
[touch] See: COMMON TOUCH, IN TOUCH, LOSE TOUCH, OUT OF TOUCH,
[touch and go]{adj. phr.} Very dangerous or uncertain in situation. •/Our team won the game, all right, but it was touch and go for a while./ •/At one time while they were climbing the cliff it was touch and go whether they could do it./
[touch base with]{v. phr.} To confer or consult with one. •/Before we make a decision, I’d like to touch base with our financial department./
[touch bottom] See: HIT BOTTOM.
[touch off]{v.} 1. To cause to fire or explode by lighting the priming or the fuse. •/The boy touched off a firecracker./ Compare: SET OFF. 2. To start something as if by lighting a fuse. •/The coach’s resignation touched off a quarrel./ Compare: SET OFF.
[touch on] or [touch upon] {v.} To speak of or write of briefly. •/The speaker touched on several other subjects in the course of his talk but mostly kept himself to the main topic./ Contrast: DWELL ON.
[touch to the quick]{v. phr.} To hurt someone’s feelings very deeply; offend. •/His remark about her lack of education touched her to the quick./
[touchup]{n.} 1. A small repair; a small amount of paint. •/Just a small touchup here and there and your novel may be publishable./ 2. Redoing the color of one’s hair. •/My roots are showing; I need a touchup./
[touch up]{v.} 1. To paint over (small imperfections.) •/I want to touch up that scratch on the fender./ •/The woodwork is done, but there are a few places he has to touch up./ 2. To improve with small additions or changes. •/He touched up the photographic negative to make a sharper print./ •/It’s a good speech, but it needs a little touching up./ 3. {slang} To talk into lending; wheedle from. •/He touched George up for five bucks./
[tough act to follow]{n. phr.} A speech, performance, or activity of such superior quality that the person next in line feels and thinks that it would be very difficult to match it in quality. •/Sir Lawrence Olivier’s performance of Hamlet was a tough act to follow in every sense./
[tough break] See: TOUGH LUCK, TOUGH SHIT.
[tough cat]{n.}, {slang} A man who is very individualistic and, as a result, highly successful with women. •/Joe is a real tough cat, man./
[tough cookie]{n. phr.} An extremely determined, hardheaded person, or someone with whom it is unusually difficult to deal. •/Marjorie is a very pretty girl, but when it comes to business she sure is one tough cookie./
[tough it out]{v. phr.} To live through and endure a trying situation. •/The tourists got lost in the desert without a compass, and they had to tough it out for three days on a single bottle of water./
[tough luck]{n. phr.} An informal way to say that one had that coming; it serves one right. •/So your date didn’t show up, eh? Tough luck, fellow./
[tough nut to crack] See: HARD NUT TO CRACK.
[tough row to hoe] See: HARD ROW TO HOE.
[tough shit]{n. phr.}, {vulgar}, {avoidable} See: HARD CHEESE, TOUGH LUCK.
[tough sledding] See: HARD SLEDDING.
[tourist trap] See: CLIP JOINT.
[to use] See: PUT TO USE.
[tow] See: IN TOW.
[towel] See: THROW IN THE SPONGE or THROW IN THE TOWEL.
[tower of strength]{n. phr.} Someone who is strong, helpful, and sympathetic, and can always be relied on in times of trouble. •/John was a veritable tower of strength to our family while my father was in the war and my mother lay ill in the hospital./
