toe

From Middle English to, from Old English tā, (Mercian) tāhe, from Proto-Germanic *taihwǭ (compare Dutch teen, German Zehe, Swedish tå), from *tīhwaną (“to show, announce”) (compare Old English teōn (“to accuse”), German zeihen (“to accuse, blame”)), from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show”) (compare Hittite [script needed] (tekkuššāi), Latin dīcere (“to say”), digitus (“finger”), Ancient Greek δείκνυμι (deíknumi, “to point out, show”), Sanskrit दिदेष्टि (dídeṣṭi), दिशति (diśáti)).

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /təʊ/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊ
• (US) IPA^(key): /toʊ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Homophone: tow

toe (plural toes)

1. Each of the five digits on the end of the foot.
2. An equivalent part in an animal.
3. That part of a shoe or sock covering the toe.
4. Something resembling a toe, especially at the bottom or extreme end of something.

   (golf) the extreme end of the head of a club.

   (cricket) the tip of the bat farthest from the handle

   (kayaking) the bow; the front of the kayak.

   (geology) a bulbous protrusion at the front of a lava flow or landslide.

5. (dance) An advanced form of ballet primarily for the females, dancing ballet primarily using a Pointe shoe.
6. An alignment of the wheels of a road vehicle with positive toe (or toe in) signifying that the wheels are closer together at the front than at the back and negative toe (or toe out) the opposite.
7. (engineering) The journal, or pivot, at the lower end of a revolving shaft or spindle, which rests in a step.
8. (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.
9. (engineering) A projection from the periphery of a revolving piece, acting as a cam to lift another piece.
10. (carpentry) The long side of an angled cut.

• (an equivalent part in an animal): hoof

• (each of the five digits on the end of the foot): heel
• (front of the kayak): tail
• (angled cut in carpentry): heel

• (each of the five digits on the end of the foot):

  hallux, big toe, great toe

  second toe, long toe

  third toe, middle toe

  fourth toe, ring toe

  fifth toe, little toe, pinky toe, baby toe

• (each of the five digits on the end of the foot): nail

• (each of the five digits on the end of the foot): foot

• (each of the five digits on the end of the foot): finger

toe (third-person singular simple present toes, present participle toeing, simple past and past participle toed)

1. To furnish (a stocking, etc.) with a toe.
2. To touch, tap or kick with the toes.
   • 2010 December 29, Mark Vesty, “Wigan 2 - 2 Arsenal”, in BBC‎:

     Just five minutes later the turnaround was complete when Arshavin toed the ball through to Bendtner, who slotted into the left corner from close range just before half-time.

3. (transitive) To touch or reach with the toes; to come fully up to.

   to toe the mark

4. (construction) 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.

5. (golf) To mishit a golf ball with the toe of the club.

• toe the line

• hang five
• hang ten
• tiptoe
• TOE

• EOT, OTE, Teo

From Dutch toe (“then”), a chiefly dialect variant of toen, from Middle Dutch doe. The -n in Dutch toen was added by analogy with dan (“then”).

toe

1. (referring to the past) then; at that time; at that moment

   Ek het toe nog nie lank in Pretoria gewoon nie.

   I hadn’t lived in Pretoria for long then.

• dan (“then” referring to the present and future)

toe

1. (referring to the past) when; as

   Toe ek by my skoonouers kuier, het ons elke dag gebraaide vleis geëet.

   When I stayed at my in-laws’, we had fried meat every day.

• Since “toe” by itself refers always to the past, it is often followed by the simple form of the verb (“present tense”) as in the example above, rather than the perfect. However, verbs that have a preterite use this form.

• wanneer (“when” referring to the present and future)

From Dutch toe, from Middle Dutch toe.

toe

1. (local) to

   Ons gaan skool toe.

   We’re going to school.

• If an article, determiner, or adjective is to precede the noun, the preposition na must be used additionally:

Ons gaan na die nuwe skool toe.

We’re going to the new school.

toe

1. adverbial form of tot, found chiefly in compounds
2. closed; shut; not open

   Die deur is toe.

   The door is closed.

• (closed): gesluit (geslote)

• daartoe
• hiertoe
• waartoe

Compare Hindi तू (tū).

toe

1. you

• Beknopt Nederland-Sarnami Woordenboek met Sarnami Hindoestani-Nederlanse Woordenlijst‎ (in Dutch), Paramaribo: Instituut voor Taalwetenschap, 2002

From Middle Dutch toe, from Old Dutch *tuo, from Proto-Germanic *tō.

• IPA^(key): /tu/
• Rhymes: -u

• Audio

  (file)

toe

1. (postpositional) adverbial form of tot

   Het doet er niet toe.

   It doesn't matter.

2. after, afterwards

   Hij kreeg nog wat lekkers toe. ― He got something tasty afterwards.

3. shut, closed (especially as part of a compound verb like toedoen)

   De deur is toe. — The door is closed.

   Doe de deur toe. — Close the door.

   Oogjes toe. — Eyes closed.

toe

1. come on!, go on! (used when trying to coax someone into doing something)

   Toe maar!

From Proto-Finnic *togeh, from a Baltic language, compare Lithuanian takišys, Latvian tacis.

toe

1. (rare) A small dam, usually made of logs.

• hirsipato
• tammi

• lohitoe
• siikatoe

• pato

• ote, teo-

toe

1. dam

• IPA^(key): /tuə/

From Old Dutch tuo, from Proto-Germanic *tō.

toe

1. to, towards
2. up to
3. until
4. in relation with
5. in addition, furthermore
6. shut, closed (especially the eyes)

This word is often encountered following a noun phrase and could arguably be said to be a postposition rather than an adverb.

toe

1. (eastern) Alternative form of te

toe

1. Alternative form of doe

• “toe (II)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• “toe (III)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• “toe (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929
• “toe (II)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929

• (Hà Nội) IPA^(key): [twɛ˧˧]
• (Huế) IPA^(key): [twɛ˧˧]
• (Hồ Chí Minh City) IPA^(key): [t⁽ʷ⁾ɛ˧˧]

toe (𡄪)

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.