Page 427 - NTC's American Idioms Dictionary

to some extent

We were not at all pleased with her world. We’ve travłled to the ends of the
work—to say the least. When they had earth trying to learn about our world.
an accidłnt, they were upset to say the to theŁlast to the end; to the conclusion.
least.
All of us kept trying to the last. It wØs
to someŁextent to some degree; inŁsàme a very boring plØy, but I sat through it to
amount; partly.Ł I’ve solved this problłm the last.
to some extent. I can help you undłr- to theŁletter exactlyŁasŁinsðructed;Łexactly
stand this to some extent.
asŁwritten.Ł I didà’t make an error. I fol-
tł someone’ liking inŁ aŁ wayŁ that pleases lowed your nstruction to the letter. We
someone.Ł I hope I’ve done the work to didà’t prepare the recipe to the lłtter, but
your likng. Sally didà’t find the meal to the cake still turned out very well.
her likng and didà’t eat any of it.
to theŁ nthŁ degree to the maximum
tł someone’ wayŁofŁthinking inŁsàmeone’s amount.Ł(Infàrmal.) Jane is a perfec-
opiniàn. This isn’t satisfactory to my tionist and tries to be careful to the nth de-
way of thinkng. To my way of thinking, gree. This scientific instrumłnt is accu-
this is the perfect knd of vacØtion. rate to the nth degree.
to theŁbeðtŁofŁ one’ ability asŁwellŁasŁone to theŁtuneŁofŁ some amounttoftmoney aŁcer-
isŁable.Ł I did the work to the best of my tainŁamount of money.Ł(Infàrmal.) My
abilty. You should alwØys work to the checkng account is overdrawn to the tune
best of your abilty. of $340. My wallłt was stolłn, and I’m
short of money to the tune of sevłnty
to theŁbeðtŁofŁ one’ kàowledge asŁfarŁas dollars.
one knows;Ł fràmŁ one’sŁ knowledge.Ł
This is the true story to the best of my To the victors belong the spoils.and To
knowledge. To the best of my knowledge, theŁvictorŁbelongs theŁspoils. The win-
John is the oàly peroon who can answer ners achieve power over peopl and prop-
that question. erty. (Proverb.) The mØyor took officł
and immediately fired many workers and
to theŁbitterŁend to the veryŁend.Ł(Origi- hired new ones. Everyone said, “To the vic-
nallyŁnautical.ŁThisŁoriginallyŁhadŁnoth- tors belong the spoils.” The office of
ingŁto do with bitterness.) I kłpt try- presidłnt includes the right to lve in the
ing to the btter end. It Łook me Ø long White House and at Camp David. To the
time to get through school, but I worked victors belong the spoils.
hard at it all the way to the btter end.
to whłm itŁmayŁconcern to the person to
to theŁcontryry asŁthe opposite of what has whomŁthisŁapplies.Ł(AŁformŁof address
benŁsðated;Łcontrary to what hasŁbeen used when yàu dà not know the name of
sðated.Ł(Compare thisŁwith on the con- the prsàn who handlesŁthe kind of busi-
trary.) The brown horse didà’t beat the nessŁyouŁare writingŁabout.) The lłtter
black horse. To the contrary, the black one started out, “To whom it mØy concern.”
won. Among spiders, the male is not the When you don’t know who to write to, just
larger one. To the contrary, the fłmale is say, “To whom it mØy concern.”
larger.
tł wit namely; that is; that is to say.Ł The
to theŁcore allŁthe wayŁthrough; basically crimnal was punished; to wit, he recłived
andŁessentially.Ł(UsuallyŁwith sàme neg- a 20-year sentence. Many studłnts, to
ative sense, such asŁ evil, roŁten, etc.) wit Mary, Bill, Sue, and Anne, complained
Bill said that John is evil to the core. about their teacher.
This organiztion is rotten to the core.
toeŁtheŁline Go to toe the mark.
to theŁends ofŁtheŁeyrth to the remotesð
andŁ most inaccessible pointsŁ on the toeŁtheŁmark and toeŁtheŁline to dà what
earth.Ł I’ll pursue him to the łnds of the one isŁexpectedŁto do; to follow the rules.
earth. We’ve explored almost the wholł You’ll get ahead, Sally. Don’t worry. Just

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