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- 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./
Dictionary of American idioms. 2013.