too, adv.

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I. 1. a. In addition (cf. TO adv. 5); furthermore, moreover, besides, also.
The use of too in this sense at the beginning of a clause, formerly common, was rare or obsolete by the nineteenth cent. It was revived in the twentieth cent., at first in the U.S.

c888 K. ÆLFRED Boeth. xli. §5 a styriendan netenu..habba eall æt a unstyriendan habba, and eac mare to. a1240 Ureisun in Cott. Hom. 183 Tu art se softe and se swote ette to swa leoflic. c1330 R. BRUNNE Chron. (1810) 229 e envenomed knyfe [he] out braid, & gaf Edward a wounde. To, I wene, he lauht. ?1400 Arthur 532 Sey a Pater noster more to. 1533 MORE Debell. Salem Wks. 997/1 Wold not the iudges..geue them ye hearing; yes yes I dout not, and the iury to. 1590 SHAKES. Com. Err. III. i. 110 Prettie and wittie; wilde, and yet too gentle. 1627 HAKEWILL Apol. (1630) 296 Not the bodie only but the minde to..is sickish & indispos'd. 1641 J. SHUTE Sarah & Hagar (1649) 156 Too, we profess our selves the Redeemed of the Lord. 1766 GOLDSM. Vic. W. iii, Take..this book too. 1821 SCOTT Kenilw. xx, I too have sometimes that dark melancholy. 1891 Law Times XC. 315/1 If you sell the mansion-house in which the heirlooms are to be kept, you must sell the heirlooms too. 1930 Publishers' Weekly 17 May 2514/2 Too, chain store merchandising tactics are the result..of the keenest..retailing brains in this country. 1956 GARDNER & SMITH Geneal. Res. Eng. & Wales I. iv. 46 Many births and deaths were not recorded in the parish registers of England and Wales. Too, some of the other denominations kept poor records. 1969 Daily Tel. (Colour Suppl.) 17 Oct. 59/1 And, too, is there any future for the Dunebuggy in Britain? 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 7 Mar. 13/2 Too, supermarket officials note, the projected 10 to 20 per cent saving..covers only part of the..bill. 1978 R. LUDLUM Holcroft Covenant vii. 89 Too, the windows were not that close to one another.
b. Used after a vb. to emphasize a reassertion of a denied statement. orig. and chiefly U.S.

1914 B. TARKINGTON Penrod xiv. 122 ‘No, I didn't.’.. ‘He did, too! Didn't he, Sam?’ 1936 M. MITCHELL Gone with Wind xlvii. 843 ‘Surely you can't be thinking of marrying a man who wasn't in the army..?’ ‘He was, too, in the army.’ 1937 WODEHOUSE Summer Moonshine (1938) v. 59 ‘Do you know the Princess?’ ‘My stepmother.’ ‘She isn't!’ ‘She is, too. I have documents to prove it.’ 1939 Reader's Digest Dec. 25 ‘She hasn't got appendicitis.’ The husband became even wilder, insisting that she did too have appendicitis. 1963 L. DEIGHTON Horse under Water xxi. 92 ‘How do you think she guessed?’ ‘No idea,’ I said. ‘You have too. Please tell me,’ said Jean. 1969 tr. Godard's Masculine Feminine 60 Madeleine: You don't care, but for me my first record is very important. Paul: I do too care. 1978 A. MALING Lucky Devil xxxiii. 181 ‘Well, you can't really believe in both,’ she said. ‘You can too!’ Frances said hotly.
II. 2. In excess; more than enough; overmuch, superfluously, superabundantly. (Preceding and qualifying an adj. or adv.) a. gen. In excess of what ought to be; more than is right or fitting.

a900 CYNEWULF Crist 1567 Ac hy to si do gæstum helpe. 971 Blickl. Hom. 41 e eow ondræda æt e onfon to lytlum leanum. a1200 Moral Ode 28 in Lamb. Hom. 161 Al to muchel ich habbe ispent, to litel ihud in horde. 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 182 For mon-sworne, & men-sclat, & to much drynk. 1535 COVERDALE Num. xvi. 3 Ye make to moch a doo. 1604 SHAKES. Oth. V. ii. 345 One that lou'd not wisely, but too well. 1605 Lear I. iv. 279 Woe, that too late repents. 1766 GOLDSM. Vic. W. vi, I delivered this observation with too much acrimony. 1852 MRS. STOWE Uncle Tom's C. xvi, A fellow's taking a glass too much, and sitting a little too late over his cards.
b. More than enough for the particular case in question; in excess of what is consistent with or required by something expressed by the context.
Usually const. for with n. (cf. FOR prep. 13b); to with inf. (cf. TO prep. B. 7b); or for with n. + to with inf. (cf. FOR prep. 18).

a1300- [see to b. 7b]. c1350 Will. Palerne 5024 Of here a-tir for to telle to badde is my witte. c1489 CAXTON Blanchardyn xlvi. 177 Blanchardyn shal neuer come ayen at thys syde; kyng alymodes is to myghty a lorde in his lande. c1518 SKELTON Magnyf. 1892 All worldly Welth for hym to lytell was. 1599 SHAKES. Much Ado V. ii. 72 Thou and I are too wise to wooe peaceablie. 1653 WALTON Compl. Angler vii. 160 This dish of meat is too good for any but Anglers. 1665 MANLEY Grotius' Low C. Warres 791 The Castle..was too mean a prize for so great an Army to look after. 1710 STEELE Tatler No. 200 2 Men of Letters know too much to make good Husbands. 1804 WORDSW. She was a phantom of delight ii, A Creature not too bright or good For human nature's daily food. 1908 R. BAGOT A. Cuthbert xix, Too large an apartment for two people not to feel somewhat lost in it.
c. Expressing, sorrowfully or indignantly, regret or disapproval: To a lamentable, reprehensible, painful, or intolerable extent; regrettably, painfully, esp. as too true. just too bad: see JUST adv. 6c. Cf. 5c.

c1205 LAY. 5268 To late heom ute are heo er to comen. 1297 R. GLOUC. (Rolls) 4618 Ac to prout he was & to fals, at ssende is lond alas. c1380 WYCLIF Wks. (1880) 454, & us ech siche were herde of ech, but is abusioun were to straunge. 1447 Rolls of Parlt. V. 137/1 It apperith to openly in som persones. 1568 GRAFTON Chron. II. 501 The old prouerbes be to true. 1592 CHETTLE Kinde-harts Dr. (1841) 24 Either witles, which is too bad, or wilfull, which is worse. 1648 Petit. Eastern Assoc. 15 Which is too well pleasing to the adverse partee. 1721 WODROW Suffer. Ch. Scot. (1838) I. I. iv. §I. 333/2 Some of them, alas too many, were heard swearing very rudely. 1839 THACKERAY Fatal Boots Aug., This was too cool. 1849 MACAULAY Hist. Eng. v. I. 663 It is indeed but too true that the taste for blood is a taste which..men..may..speedily acquire. 1855 MACAULAY Hist. Eng. xvii. IV. 87 At best a blunderer, and too probably a traitor. 1900 C. M. YONGE Modern Broods i. 5 ‘I am considered quite passée’ ‘My dear! With your art, and music, and all!’ ‘Too true!’ 1930 ‘E. QUEEN’ French Powder Mystery xxxi. 261 ‘The presumption is that he slept home all night and therefore couldn't have committed the crime. Yet physically it was possible.’.. ‘Too true, too true,’ murmured Ellery. 1976 N. FREELING Lake Isle x. 67 ‘Rare, that sort of saint.’ ‘Too true.’
d. Rarely used to qualify a verb: Too much, to excess. (See also 4b.)

1509 BARCLAY Shyp Folys 59 Whyle one is ladyd to the others backe is bare. 1833 BROWNING Pauline 937-8, I have too trusted my own lawless wants, Too trusted my vain self. 1873 Red Cotton Night-Cap Country III. 790 The causes,..Would too distract, too desperately foil Enquirer.
3. As a mere intensive: Excessively, extremely, exceedingly, very.
(‘Now chiefly an emotional feminine colloquialism’N.E.D.; but see also 5c and d.)

1340 Ayenb. 95 The wel greate loue and to moche charite of god e uader. 1697 tr. C'tess D'Aunoy's Trav. (1706) 79 He..had not lost nothing of whatever made me heretofore fancy him too Lovely. 1825 T. HOOK Sayings Ser. II. Man of Many Fr. I. 273 ‘We shall see you at dinner, perhaps’, said the Colonel... ‘I shall be too happy’, replied Noel. 1868 PRINCESS ALICE Mem. 4 Sept. (1884) 203 How too delightful your expeditions must have been.
4. Reduplicated for emphasis: too too (formerly occas. written as one word, toto, totoo, tootoo). a. Qualifying an adj. or adv.; chiefly in sense 2c. (Very common c1540-1660.)

c1489 CAXTON Blanchardyn liv. 213 Ah ! to to well I suspected..that my captiuitie would bring her callamity. 1542 UDALL Erasm. Apoph. 271 It was toto ferre oddes yt a Syrian born should in Roome ouer come a Romain. 1582 in Hakluyt Voy. (1904) V. 233 Threed..some tootoo hard spun, some tootoo soft spun. 1586 DAY Eng. Secretary I. (1625) 5 Vsed bona fide, it was too too bad. 1602 SHAKES. Ham. I. ii. 129 Oh that this too too solid Flesh would melt. 1654-66 EARL OF ORRERY Parthen. (1676) 547 Her fears were but too-too well grounded. 1745 Gentl. Mag. Oct. 550/1 Not apt to toy, and yet not too too nice. 1821 SCOTT Kenilw. xxxvi, It is too, too apparent. 1885 LELAND Brand-new Ballads (ed. 2) 109 Perishing to find Something which was not too-too-utter-ish To serve for dinner. 1887 N. & Q. 7th Ser. III. 109/2 The too-too painfully ceremonious manners..of the French.
b. Qualifying a verb, as in 2d; also absol.

c1518 SKELTON Magnyf. 872 He doth abuse Hym self to to. 1533 J. HEYWOOD Merry Play (1903) 183 By my soule I love thee too too. 1534 MORE Comf. agst. Trib. III. Wks. 1247/2, I cannot then see, that the feare..shold any thing sticke with vs, & make vs toto shrinke. c1537 Thersites (1820) 66 It is to to, mother, the pastyme and good chere That we shall see and haue.
c. As adj. in predicative or attributive use: Excessive, extreme; extremely good, highly exquisite.
An affectation, connected with the ‘æsthetic’ craze of c1880-90. In quot. 1891 = characterized by the use of ‘too too’.

1881 Punch 26 Mar. 138 (caption) ‘Have you seen the Old Masters at Burlington House?’.. ‘Are they not really quite too TOO!!’ 1891 N. & Q. 7th Ser. XI. 30/2 Let the exclusive too-too æsthetes tolerate the remark that music and painting do not exist for them. 1893 N. H. KENNARD Diogenes' Sandals i. 12 The piece is nowhere; but my frocks are too too!
5. In special collocations. a. too much (besides its ordinary use) was formerly sometimes used instead of the simple too to qualify an adj. or adv. Obs.

c1449 PECOCK Repr. I. xi. 53 To miche homeli dele with him. 1530 RASTELL Bk. Purgat. III. i, When the bodye is to mych hote or to mych colde, or to mych drye or to mych moyste. 1593 SHAKES. Rich. II, II. ii. 1 Your Maiesty is too much sad. 1638 JUNIUS Paint. Ancients 230 His minde is kept too much busie.
b. too much (as predicate): (a) more than can be endured, intolerable: also too much of a good thing; (b) orig. U.S., excellent, first-rate; too much for: more than a match for; such as to overcome or subdue: so too many for (see MANY A. 5f), too hard for, etc. Chiefly colloq.

1533 J. HEYWOOD Merry Play (1830) 30 Shall we alway syt here styll, we two? That were to mych. 1692-1872 [see many a. 5f]. 1777 SHERIDAN Trip to Scarb. V. ii, Don't be frightened, we shall be too hard for the rogue. 1794 A. RADCLIFFE Myst. Udolpho I. ix. 251 The sight of this poor old woman would have been too much for Emily. 1796 F. BURNEY Camilla I. 233 O too much! too much! there's no standing it! 1809 SYD. SMITH Wks. (1867) I. 175 This (to use a very colloquial phrase) is surely too much of a good thing. 1832 H. MARTINEAU Life in Wilds v, The light had been too much for him. 1861 DICKENS Gt. Expect. xlviii, Mr. Jaggers was altogether too many for the Jury, and they gave in. 1937 Metronome Mar. 55/1 Man, if you didn't you really missed something. That man's too much! What great bass drum work he shows. 1958 G. LEA Somewhere there's Music xviii. 155, I want to make it to the City... Man, like the City is too muchand that's where I want to be. 1966 Melody Maker 15 Oct. 19, I just can't wait for his Spring return with Earl Hines, Budd Johnson and the rest. This could be too much. 1967 [see lean v.1 6d]. 1968 Scottish Daily Mail 3 Jan. 6 They got ‘Absolutely divine’; we get ‘Too much’... One day ‘Too much’ will sound as old fashioned as ‘ripping’.
c. but too.., only too: Here too is app. = ‘more than is desirable’ (cf. 2c), or ‘more than is or might be expected’, while but (BUT C. 6) or only (ONLY A. 1) = ‘nothing but’, ‘nothing else than’, app. emphasizes the exclusion of any different quality or state of things such as might be desired or expected.

1639 MASSINGER Unnat. Combat II. i, I have Discourse and reason, and but too well know I can nor live, nor end a wretched life. 1654-66 [see 4]. 1817 CASS. AUSTEN in Jane Austen's Lett. (1884) II. 334, I loved her only too well. 1818 SCOTT Rob Roy viii, Stay, then, rash, obstinate girl..you know but too well to whom you trust.
d. only too in recent use, is often a mere intensive, = ‘extremely’. (Cf. 3.)

1889 ‘J. S. WINTER’ Mrs. Bob (1891) 245 Mrs. Trafford will only be too glad to come and pay you a visit. Mod. I shall be only too pleased.
e. none too..is used by meiosis for ‘not quite..enough’, ‘somewhat insufficiently’; also rather less than; only moderately; not very.: see also NONE C. 3. Also in other negative contexts, esp. not too (cf. NOT adv. 15d).

1842 E. A. POE in Graham's Mag. Feb. 126/2 The mind of the not-too-acute reader. 1866 GEO. ELIOT F. Holt I. iii. 86 They were not too hopeful about Protestants who adhered to a bloated and worldly Prelacy. 1866, etc. [see not adv. c. 2d]. 1885 Manch. Exam. 21 May 5/3 The vast territories of the Dominion have hitherto been none too coherent. 1892 E. G. WHITE Steps to Christ (1908) 108 We do not pray any too much, but we are too sparing of giving thanks. 1909 GALSWORTHY Fraternity xxxvii. 313 There were not too many people in London who..would have behaved with such seemlinessnot too many so civilised as they! 1912 J. SANDILANDS Western Canad. Dict. & Phrase-Bk., Not too bad, a characteristic Canadian reply to an inquiry regarding one's health or circumstances. a1913 Mod. Money is none too plentiful with us. 1947 Sun (Baltimore) 5 Nov. 2/7 There is little incentive for him to do more than seek a mere existence for himself and family, without too keen a regard for the plight of others. 1956 English Summer 45 The English Association..having survived half a century and two world wars..has not done too badly. 1967 L. DEIGHTON Expensive Place to Die iii. 19 ‘Can I have a shower?’ she asked. ‘The water's not too warm I'm afraid,’ said Byrd. 1984 A. BROOKNER Hotel du Lac i. 10 My intervention did not seem to be too welcome.
f. quite too..: see QUITE 4c.

g. too right: expressing emphatic agreement or assertion. orig. Austral.

1926 ‘J. DOONE’ Timely Tips to New Australians, Too right!A slang term expressing agreement or corroboration. 1934 T. WOOD Cobbers v. 76 What I says is, give 'em an axe and send 'em into the bush. Then they'd work, or starve. Too right they would. 1951 J. FLEMING Man who looked Back xi. 145 ‘We should have thought of that before we started out.’ ‘Too right,’ Joe agreed. 1961 Lancet 5 Aug. 311/2 The chairman agreed it was thumbs down for Dr. Y., too right it was. 1978 P. MCCUTCHAN Blackmail North viii. 95 ‘He'll see you now sir.’ ‘Too right he will.’
6. In combination. a. With an adj. or adv., forming a (nonce) n. phr., as a too-late, a too-little, a too-much.

1602 SHAKES. Ham. IV. vii. 119 Goodness, growing to a plurisy, Dies in his own too much. 1637 C. DOW Answ. to H. Burton 158 There may be a too-much even in the best things. 1784 R. BAGE Barham Downs I. 346 [one] who complains of the Too-much of things he does not value, and of the Too-little of things he does. 1860 PUSEY Min. Proph. 542 There will be a ‘too late’; not a final ‘too late’,..but..a ‘too late’ to avert that particular judgment. 1905 Daily Chron. 14 Apr. 5/4 We have suffered greatly in our national life from the domination of the ‘too-lates’; political procrastination is the thief of opportunity.
b. With an adj. or adv., forming an adj. phr. preceding and qualifying a n., or an adv. phr. qualifying an adj., as too-anxious, -celebrated, -familiar, -fervent, -near, -piercing, -trusting, -willing, -wise adjs.; too-early, -late, -long, -much (in quot. 1620 = too great obs.; see also 5a) adjs. and advs. Hence derivatives (nonce-wds.), as too-bigness, -lateness, -muchness, -soonness.

1612 Two Noble K. II. ii. 32 Like a too-timely Spring. 1620 VENNER Via Recta vi. 100 It..represseth the too-much tenuity..of the bloud. 1624 DONNE Devot. 221 Those sentences, from which a too-late Repenter will sucke desperation. 1793 HOLCROFT Lavater's Physiog. xxvi. 127 The gentleness of his voice [will] temper thy too-piercing tones. 1838 LYTTON Alice II. ii, The good man was quite shocked at the too-familiar manner in which Mrs. Merton spoke. 1842 TENNYSON Day-Dream Prol. 18 Turn your face, Nor look with that too-earnest eye. 1849 E. C. OTTÉ tr. Humboldt's Cosmos II. II. v. 596 My lamented and too-early deceased friend. 1855 KINGSLEY Heroes II. I. (1868) 82 Only one walked apart..Asclepius, the too-wise child. 1887 Spectator 16 Apr. 532/1 A too-fervent patriotism.
1858 DE QUINCEY in ‘H. A. Page’ Life (1877) II. xviii. 142 In midst of too-soonness he shall suffer the killing anxieties of too-lateness. 1875 BLACKIE Let. in Biog. (1895) II. xviii. 122 An everlasting too-muchness. 1904 S. E. WHITE Forest iii. 30 Everything was wrinkled in the folds of too-bigness.