Absence of the articles in set expressions

at dinner (breakfast, etc.) at first notice at first sight at night at table at war

in search of

in spite of

by airmail

by letter

by telegram

by air

by car

by land

by plane

by sea

by ship (boat)

by train

by tram

by tube

by water

out of date

out of order

out of place

out of sight

arm in arm

day after day

day by day

hand in hand

night after night

night by night

a kind of

a sort of

place,

book,

task, etc.

by accident

by chance

by mistake

by name

by sight

on account of

on condition that

to be in to go to

bed

from beginning to end

from day to day

from east to west

from head to foot

from morning to (till) night

from side to side

in debt

in demand

in secret

in sight

in time

to be at

to go to

to come to

to come from

to leave

school,

college,

(the) university

to be at

to leave

to take to

hospital

to be at to go to

sea

in addition to

in (on) behalf of

in care of

in case of

in charge of

in reference to

to be in

to go to

church

to be at to put to

prison

to be in

to be out of

to go to

town

to ask (for) permission to catch (lose) sight of to give offence (permission) to give way to to keep house (to do housework) to keep time

to lose touch with

to lose track of

to make fun of

to make use of

to pay attention to

to set fire to

to shake hands with

to take care of

to take notice of

In these set expressions nouns combine with prepositions or verbs and acquire a new shade of meaning, expressing an adverbial relation, a state or a process. Concrete count nouns lose their nominal meaning. Thus He is in bed may mean He is ill, or He is asleep, or He is not up. But we say: There were no chairs enough and we sat on the bed.

My brother goes to school (college) means He learns there. However, if we mean the building or the institution, we use an article according to the general rules, as in: We shall meet at the school. The school isn't far from our home. Ours is a very good school. Parents are regularly invited to the school.

The noun town without an article means the nearest big centre of population as contrasted to the country or a smaller town, it may also denote the central part of a big town, as opposed to its suburbs.

To be at sea may mean "far away from the land" or (figuratively) "to feel puzzled"; to go to sea is "to become a sailor". But we say: The swimmer jumped into the sea. We lived near the sea, etc.

No article is used as a rule when two notions, very closely related, are mentioned, as in:

They looked like mother and daughter.

We are no longer boy and girl.

It’s no use interfering into a quarrel between husband and wife.