Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adverb In addition; also.
  • adverb More than enough; excessively.
  • adverb To a regrettable degree.
  • adverb Very; extremely; immensely.
  • adverb Informal Indeed; so.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Over; more than enough: noting excess, and qualifying an adjective or an adverb.
  • [Too in this sense is sometimes erroneously used to qualify a verb.
  • Exceedingly; extremely: an intensive use.
  • In addition; also; furthermore; moreover.
  • Likewise; in like manner; in the same way.
  • Hence—(b ) As an adjective or an adverb, very good; very well: used absolutely.
  • As an adjective, superlative; extreme; utter; hence, enraptured; gushing: applied to the so-called esthetic school, their principles, etc., in allusion to their exaggerated affectation. See esthetieism, 2.
  • An obsolete spelling of to.
  • noun An old spelling of toe.
  • A dialectal spelling of two.
  • See tew.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adverb Over; more than enough; -- noting excess.
  • adverb Likewise; also; in addition.
  • adverb a duplication used to signify great excess.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb focus Likewise
  • adverb conjunctive also; in addition.
  • adverb degree To an excessive degree; over; more than enough.
  • adverb degree, colloquial To a high degree, very
  • adverb colloquial used to contradict a negative assertion.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb in addition
  • adverb to a degree exceeding normal or proper limits

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English to, from Old English , to, furthermore; see de- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English to ("also, in addition to"), from Old English  ("furthermore, also, besides"), adverbial use of preposition  ("to, into"). The sense of "in addition, also" deriving from the original meaning of "apart, separately" (compare Old English prefix tō- ("apart")). More at to.

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Examples

  • She stared at him, unable to think of a retort, the words reverberating in her head to the rhythm of her furiously pounding heart, _Billy's nice too Billy's nice too Billy's nice too_, the fear, now on the surface, taking control, no longer something she could contain.

    Baby Games Chelsea White 2010

  • I always thought it was to warm too this..too that.

    Veggie Day Roundup 2009 « Fairegarden 2009

  • Just as any gardner knows only heartache will come of setting plants out too early for your climate, perhaps I need to know that I cannot enjoy an earthy perfume *too* far ahead of me actually being able to smell it outside.

    Archive 2009-03-01 ScentScelf 2009

  • Just as any gardner knows only heartache will come of setting plants out too early for your climate, perhaps I need to know that I cannot enjoy an earthy perfume *too* far ahead of me actually being able to smell it outside.

    I've been gone... ScentScelf 2009

  • I've had problems with this in my WIP, too - it just became _too_ large and equally impossible to read.

    Diving in the Deep End Janice Hardy 2009

  • Not * too* difficult to explain (although maybe too difficult for a 1-hour show), but also avoids all the hype and questions about the engineering reality of quantum computation.

    Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Quantum Mechanics, But Were Afraid to Ask Sean 2008

  • A pledge card is on it's way too where Boris pledges too* Beef up police presence on our streets by cutting red tape and employing more officers

    Boris launches his Party Political Broadcast 2008

  • Candy store is fast moving..too fast for me ..but probably not too fast for kids lol

    The Candy Shop War 2007

  • Or if you are *too* disabled, again as decided by able-bodied people, are you too disabled to have the rights that less disabled people have?

    The Ashley Treatment: A Feminist and Disability Rights Issue? 2007

  • But yeah, I am keeping my fingers crossed too for the 17th *crosses toes too*

    Sexist Politician Has Ass Handed To Him By Female Opponent 2005

Comments

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  • from Twitter:

    Annabel Crabb ‏@annabelcrabb 31 mins

    I just drove past a sign saying "No Job Too Big, No Detail To Small".

    March 27, 2014