from --- to ---
1. Used with a repeated word to show that something keeps on. Without ending.
The world grows wiser from age to age.
He goes from day to day without changing his necktie.
- Also used in a short form like an adjective.
The superintendent spends more time on plans for the future, and the principal handles the day-to-day problems of the school.
2. Used with a repeated word to show that something happens again and again.
She sells face cream from door to door.
The artist goes from place to place painting pictures.
- Also used in a short form like an adjective.
Mr. Roberts began as a door-to-door salesman, and now is president of the company.
3. Used with words showing opposite or extreme limits, often to emphasize that something is very large or complete.
The eagle's wings measured six feet from tip to tip.
Sarah read the book from cover to cover.
Mrs. Miller's dinner included everything from soup to nuts.
That book is a bestseller from Maine to California.
The captain looked the boy over from head to foot.
The dog sniffed the yard from end to end in search of a bone.
This new car has been redesigned from top to bottom.
That bookstore has books on everything from archery to zoology.
The television show was broadcast from coast to coast.
He knows mathematics from A to Z.
- Sometimes used in a short form like an adjective.
The airplane made a non-stop coast-to-coast flight.
Categories:
Source: A Dictionary of American Idioms
