to-ing and fro-ing

noun

ˈtü-iŋ-ən(d)-ˈfrō-iŋ 

plural to-ings and fro-ings

: a passing back and forth

Examples of to-ing and fro-ing in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Then there’s Sarah’s fatigue with hard-to-please customers in her decorator business, seen in repeated to-ing and fro-ing to find the right wall sconce. —David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Jan. 2023

There was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, but Peter Straughan is a very clever screenwriter, and his first draft was very, very sound. —Hillary Kelly, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2022

But there was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing and eventually, some sort of resolution was reached. —Gary Graff, cleveland, 23 Sep. 2022

There’s some excellent Albee-esque relational to-ing and fro-ing among Roy, Carl and Shannon, the wife Carl brings to Os from Canada. —Richard Lipez, Washington Post, 9 Nov. 2020

Still, all the to-ing and fro-ing in splendid carriages was free for oohing and aahing to anyone who could crowd along the procession route. —Patt Morrison, latimes.com, 17 May 2018

Monday’s development follows much to-ing and fro-ing between Standard Bank and the South African authorities. —Renee Bonorchis, Bloomberg.com, 18 Sep. 2017

Word History

Etymology

to and fro

First Known Use

1847, in the meaning defined above