toe
UK /təʊ/ · US /toʊ/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms toes toeing toed
- noun Each of the five digits on the end of the human foot.
- noun The equivalent part in an animal.
- noun The part of a shoe or sock covering the toe.
- noun Something resembling a toe, especially at the bottom or extreme end of something.
- noun (dance, uncountable) An advanced form of ballet primarily performed by women, wearing pointe shoes.
- noun (automotive) An alignment of the wheels of a road vehicle, either positive (toe in), meaning the wheels are closer together at the front than at the back, or negative (toe out), the other way round.
- noun (engineering) The journal, or pivot, at the lower end of a revolving shaft or spindle, which rests in a step.
- noun (engineering) A lateral projection at one end, or between the ends, of a piece, such as a rod or bolt, by means of which it is moved.
- verb (transitive) To furnish (a stocking, etc.) with a toe.
- verb (transitive, intransitive) To touch, tap or kick with the toes.
- verb (transitive) To touch or reach with the toes; to come fully up to.
- verb (construction, transitive) To fasten (a piece) by driving a fastener at a near-45-degree angle through the side (of the piece) into the piece to which it is to be fastened. “The framers toed the irregular pieces into the sill.”
- verb (golf, transitive) To mishit a golf ball with the toe of the club.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English to, from Old English tā, (Mercian) tāhe, from Proto-West Germanic *taihā, from Proto-Germanic *taihwǭ, from *tīhwaną (“to show, announce”), from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show”).
Cognate with Dutch teen, German Zehe, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish tå, Faroese and Icelandic tá; also Old English teōn (“to accuse”), German zeihen (“to accuse, blame”); see also Hittite [script needed] (tekkuššāi), Latin dīcere (“to say”), digitus (“finger”), Ancient Greek δείκνυμι (deíknumi, “to point out, show”), Sanskrit दिदेष्टि (dídeṣṭi), दिशति (diśáti).
Borrowed from Kru, but also from Burmese တို (tui). This surname is mostly found in Myanmar, followed by Liberia and Burkina Faso.
Webster’s 1913
- noun One of the terminal members, or digits, of the foot of a man or an animal. "Each one, tripping on his toe." Shak.
- noun The fore part of the hoof or foot of an animal.
- verb To touch or reach with the toes; to come fully up to; as, to toe the mark.
- verb To hold or carry the toes (in a certain way). To toe in, to stand or carry the feet in such a way that the toes of either foot incline toward the other.
Etymology [OE. too, taa, AS. ta; akin to D. teen, G. zehe, OHG. zeha, Icel. ta, Sw. tå, Dan. taa; of uncertain origin. *60.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “toe”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details