How to Use this way and that in a Sentence

this way and that

idiom
Definition of this way and thatnext
  • Moses looks this way and that way but sees no one who seems to care.
    — Rabbi Avi Weiss, Sun Sentinel, 9 Jan. 2023
  • But that flock has been led this way and that by the pope’s mixed signals over the years.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 27 June 2021
  • His face is rugged, with a nose that moves this way and that, like a switchback trail, to suggest his past.
    — Steve Volk, Rolling Stone, 22 June 2022
  • The unedited, muffled sound of wind filters through, and the breeze gently moves wisps of his hair this way and that.
    — Susan Dominus, New York Times, 18 Nov. 2020
  • Each strap is two-pronged, like a tuning fork, so that the non-bra can be worn in at least twelve ways by twisting it this way and that.
    — Patricia Marx, The New Yorker, 30 July 2020
  • That male was maybe the first of its kind to turn its massive head this way and that, surveying the quiet valley.
    — Ned Rozell | Alaska Science, Anchorage Daily News, 29 Apr. 2023
  • The tops of the hedges are razor-sharp and curve this way and that, fitting into one another like a puzzle.
    — Ingrid Rojas Contreras, New York Times, 22 Mar. 2023
  • Comets, though, emit gas that can act like rocket motors, pushing the nucleus this way and that.
    — Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, 20 Apr. 2010
  • Shorty would run crazily this way and that chasing that red beam, sometimes leaping straight up a wall trying to catch it.
    — cleveland, 3 June 2022
  • Best of all, the divider gets turned this way and that to suit my moods, creating curves and semicircles against the backdrop of immovable straight walls.
    — Siva Sithraputhran, Fortune, 18 Apr. 2021
  • Notes blown this way and that evoke a weathervane, a metaphor for the traveler’s turbulent emotions.
    — Scott Cantrell, Dallas News, 31 Jan. 2022
  • Clouds shifted this way and that for hours at various heights and levels, sometimes even permitting a glimpse of sun.
    — Martin Weil, Washington Post, 15 Apr. 2023
  • However a jinking run from Sterling, twisting this way and that between the German defense, got the crowd back on its feet.
    — Matias Grez, CNN, 29 June 2021
  • Here, the composer counted years, 20 for Disney, with a sequence of 20 chords, used in various sequences, this way and that, and as palindromes.
    — Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2023
  • Yes, there is a dream-sequence chorus line of many Mrs. Doubtfires, swishing their brooms this way and that (the choreography is by Lorin Latarro).
    — Naveen Kumar, Variety, 5 Dec. 2021
  • The basket—originally used to transport goods downhill—swiveled this way and that, breath-catchingly close to the roadside ditch.
    — Nina Caplan, Travel + Leisure, 14 Sep. 2021
  • They’ve been washed this way and that like everyone else, and have survived by producing some talented surfers.
    — Matti Friedman, The Atlantic, 15 July 2022
  • Rather than tracing a clear arc, the story coalesces from scraps of routine — as David picks up and drops off the kids, or heads out in his truck to do an odd job — and is nudged this way and that by his wildly shifting moods.
    — Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2021
  • The hydraulic steering is only faintly assisted, the wheel moving about in your hands as the wide tires are pulled this way and that by the undulating road surface below.
    — Alistair Charlton, Forbes, 3 July 2021
  • Diamond’s voice echoes in Samba to the Reckoning, each letter of the title rendered in arabesques, swaying this way and that, like a ballerina in time.
    — Angelica Aboulhosn, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Sep. 2023
  • Many fingers have been pointed this way and that, including at Zimmerman, to account for this absurd outcome.
    — Dan Zak, Washington Post, 1 Feb. 2023
  • So, over the course of the movie’s second half, Baby Annette serves as a metaphysical vessel for her parents’ conflict with one another — pulled this way and that like, oh, say, a puppet.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 23 Aug. 2021
  • Tiny rooftop shapes going this way and that, indicating direction.
    — Ellise Pierce, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 31 Jan. 2024
  • Public health experts have referred to negotiating life during the pandemic as a dance — hastily moving this way and that as the virus dictates.
    — Heather Knight, SFChronicle.com, 5 Jan. 2021
  • Eventually Father Vapnik directed the village carpenter to fashion a long pole by which Ina could be prodded this way and that, to get her safely away from the others.
    — Ottessa Moshfegh, Harper’s Magazine , 25 May 2022
  • Moments later Richardson, 28, struts in with a new look, tossing back her golden-brown locks and tilting her head this way and that, considering her image in an oversize wooden mirror.
    — Danielle Bacher, Peoplemag, 2 Nov. 2023
  • Beyond that, though, Djokovic was as reliable as a metronome, anticipating nearly everything headed his way and scurrying this way and that to retrieve and respond.
    — Howard Fendrich, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Sep. 2023
  • No wonder, amid all the chatter and self-examination, Jesse so enjoys using Johnny’s directional microphone, sweeping it this way and that over beaches, in parks and on busy New Orleans streets.
    — Jessica Kiang, Los Angeles Times, 18 Nov. 2021
  • Admirably stoic and unfussy, Harrison Ford has played Indiana Jones for more than 40 years—running, riding, jumping and tumbling this way and that, up and down as the physically challenging role demanded.
    — Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 30 June 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'this way and that.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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