tit|ter /t I tə r / (titters , tittering , tittered ) VERB If someone titters , they give a short nervous laugh, especially when they are embarrassed about something. □ [V ] Mention sex therapy and most people will titter in embarrassment. ● N‑COUNT Titter is also a noun. □ Mollie gave an uneasy little titter. ● tit|ter|ing N‑UNCOUNT □ There was nervous tittering in the studio audience.
tittle-tattle /t I t ə l tæt ə l/ N‑UNCOUNT If you refer to something that a group of people talk about as tittle-tattle , you mean that you disapprove of it because it is not important, and there is no real evidence that it is true. [DISAPPROVAL ] □ [+ about ] …tittle-tattle about the private lives of minor celebrities.
titu|lar /t I tʃʊlə r / ADJ [ADJ n] A titular job or position has a name that makes it seem important, although the person who has it is not really important or powerful. □ He is titular head, and merely signs laws occasionally.
tiz|zy /t I zi/ PHRASE If you get in a tizzy or into a tizzy , you get excited, worried, or nervous about something, especially something that is not important. [INFORMAL ] □ He was in a right tizzy, muttering and swearing. □ Male journalists have been sent into a tizzy by the idea of female fighter pilots.
T -junction (T-junctions ) N‑COUNT If you arrive at a T-junction , the road that you are on joins at right angles to another road, so that you have to turn either left or right to continue. [BRIT ]
TM /tiː e m/
1 N‑UNCOUNT TM is a kind of meditation, in which people mentally relax by silently repeating special words over and over again. TM is an abbreviation for 'transcendental meditation'.
2 TM is a written abbreviation for trademark .
TNT /tiː en tiː / N‑UNCOUNT TNT is a powerful explosive substance. TNT is an abbreviation for 'trinitrotoluene'.
to
➊ PREPOSITION AND ADVERB USES
➋ USED BEFORE THE BASE FORM OF A VERB
➊ to ◆◆◆ Usually ppronounced /tə/ before a consonant and /tu/ before a vowel, but pronounced /tuː/ when you are emphasizing it. In addition to the uses shown below, to is used in phrasal verbs such as 'see to' and 'come to'. It is also used with some verbs that have two objects in order to introduce the second object. 1 PREP You use to when indicating the place that someone or something visits, moves towards, or points at. □ Two friends and I drove to Florida during college spring break. □ …a five-day road and rail journey to Paris. □ She went to the window and looked out. □ He pointed to a chair, signalling for her to sit.
2 PREP If you go to an event, you go where it is taking place. □ We went to a party at the leisure centre. □ He came to dinner.
3 PREP If something is attached to something larger or fixed to it, the two things are joined together. □ There was a piece of cloth tied to the dog's collar. □ Scrape off all the meat juices stuck to the bottom of the pan.
4 PREP You use to when indicating the position of something. For example, if something is to your left, it is nearer your left side than your right side. □ Hemingway's studio is to the right. □ Atlanta was only an hour's drive to the north.
5 PREP When you give something to someone, they receive it. □ He picked up the knife and gave it to me. □ Firms should be allowed to offer jobs to the long-term unemployed at a lower wage.
6 PREP You use to to indicate who or what an action or a feeling is directed towards. □ Marcus has been most unkind to me today. □ I have had to pay for repairs to the house.
7 PREP You use to with certain nouns and adjectives to show that a following noun is related to them. □ He is a witty man, and an inspiration to all of us. □ Money is not the answer to everything.
8 PREP If you say something to someone, you want that person to listen and understand what you are saying. □ I'm going to have to explain to them that I can't pay them.
9 PREP You use to when indicating someone's reaction to something or their feelings about a situation or event. For example, if you say that something happens to someone's surprise you mean that they are surprised when it happens. □ He survived, to the amazement of surgeons.
10 PREP You use to when indicating the person whose opinion you are stating. □ It was clear to me that he respected his boss. □ Everyone seemed to her to be amazingly kind.
11 PREP You use to when indicating what something or someone is becoming, or the state or situation that they are progressing towards. □ The shouts changed to screams of terror. □ …an old ranch house that has been converted to a nature centre.
12 PREP To can be used as a way of introducing the person or organization you are employed by, when you perform some service for them. □ She worked as a dresser to the Duchess of York for nine years. □ He was an official interpreter to the government of Nepal.
13 PREP You use to to indicate that something happens until the time or amount mentioned is reached. □ The company aimed to double foreign exports from 2012 to 2020 □ The annual rate of inflation has risen to its highest level for eight years.
14 PREP You use to when indicating the last thing in a range of things, usually when you are giving two extreme examples of something. □ I read everything from fiction to history.
15 PREP If someone goes from place to place or from job to job, they go to several places, or work in several jobs, and spend only a short time in each one. □ Larry and Andy had drifted from place to place, worked at this and that.
16 PHRASE If someone moves to and fro , they move repeatedly from one place to another and back again, or from side to side. □ She stood up and began to pace to and fro.