forth

back and forth

if someone or something moves back and forth between two places, they move from one place to the other place again and again. Nurses went back and forth among the wounded, bringing food and medicine.

See also: back

be like painting the Forth Bridge (British)

if repairing or improving something is like painting the Forth Bridge, it takes such a long time that by the time you have finished doing it, you have to start again. Home improvements are a bit like painting the Forth Bridge. By the time you've finished the kitchen, the bathroom needs decorating and so it goes on.

See also: bridge, like, painting

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and so forth

and other similar things. Obviously they're not doing a good job and so forth, but I don't really like having to fire anyone. Insurance is getting harder to obtain, and you may not qualify for benefits and so on.

Usage notes: also used in the forms and so on and so forth and and so on and so on: Economic growth makes us all richer, provides jobs, and so on and so forth. The “talking computer” is supposed to help you by saying “That's good” and “That's not right” and so on and so on.

bring forth something

to make something available. Maddie brought forth a new line of clothes.

See also: bring

hold forth

to talk for a long time on a subject. She held forth for half an hour on the stupidity of TV reality shows.

See also: hold

put forth

to do what is necessary to achieve something. The effort put forth by every employee of the town and every rescue worker was remarkable.

put forth something

to offer something for consideration. We can put forth some guidelines for what you should write about in your essay. We tried to put something forth that's really sincere.

set forth something

to explain or state something officially. Our views were set forth by our attorney in her March 13th letter. The board set forth the conditions for her release. Selina based her argument on the rights set forth in the First Amendment of the Constitution.

Usage notes: usually said about something stated in writing

See also: set