toe
/toʊ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.07 in modern English
3
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Something resembling a toe, especially at the bottom or extreme end of something.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
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.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
The journal, or pivot, at the lower end of a revolving shaft or spindle, which rests in a step.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
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.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "An old traditional prescription for provoking erotic inclinations ran as follows, The toe of the foot of a man, anointed with oil, or honey, or the ashes of a weasel."
- "Stumbling forward, Tal caught the toe of his boot on rock."
- "(golf) the extreme end of the head of a club."
- "(hurling) the end of a hurley."
- "(cricket) the tip of the bat farthest from the handle"
- "(kayaking) the bow; the front of the kayak."
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).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: *deyḱ-, to, tā, *taihā, *taihwǭ, -
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /toʊ/
- British English: /təʊ/
Usage
Subject
Wiktionary places this term in Medicine.