to order
27
3.8
- phrasal verb
:
hecho a medida
- So let's say you're sitting home alone one night, and you decide to order a pizza, and our man Anthony shows up.
- made to order
- to order a copy
Examples
-
Anytime a new person goes into a production of Hamilton, we're building that costume made to order to that person's measurements and specifications.
-
Are you guys ready to order Yes, we are.
-
"Are you ready to order, or do you need another minute?"
Fiction book (1998) -
- I'd like to order a birthday cake.
-
I'm going to order a pizza.
-
Would you be kind enough to order me a whiskey sour?
-
We'd like to order your most expensive bottle of wine.
-
And we're gonna go straight into the kitchen, and we're gonna order a burger and French fries and milkshake and ice cream sundaes.
-
San Diego is now positioning itself to create made-to-order blends of various mulch and compost products to best meet market needs.
Academic text (1998) -
All Integral Designs clothing is made to order, so you can choose your color combinations.
Synonyms
138
4.4
Made or done to fit one person's needs
9
3.9
An item made for one person to fit their needs
7
4.0
Made to fit a person's size or needs
7
4.1
Made to fit a particular person or a special use
7
6.9
Made for one person to fit their exact measurements
4
3.8
Created for a customer to match their requests
1
3.7
Made to fit one person's body exactly
Clothing made to order for one person
Antonyms
How Tailored
Surface Forms
Morphology
to + order
The meaning in 'made to order' is directly derivable from 'order' (a customer's request) with 'to' marking the relation/goal — together signalling that something is produced according to a customer's specifications. This compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows standard English noun + prepositional relation patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
To order comes from old shops where a customer told the maker exactly what to make by giving an order, a clear request for a special item. So when something is made to order, it means it is not ready-made but 'made for a customer'.