Forms: α. 1 tá, pl. tán; sing. 4–5 ta, taa; Sc. 6 ta, 9 tae, teae, north. dial. teea; pl. 3 tan, (4 taan); 4 tas, 4–5 taas, 5 taasse; Sc. 6 tais, taiss, tayis, tees, 6– taes, (9 dial. teaes, teaase). β. sing. 3–5 tô, 4–6 too, 5– toe; pl. 3–5 ton, 4–5 tone, toon, 5 toone; 4 tôs, 5 tose, tois, toose, 5–6 toos, 5– toes. [OE. tá (contr. f. *táhe, in OMerc. táhæ), pl. tán, ME. tô, pl. tôn, tôs = OLG. *têha, MLG. tê, MDu., mod.Flem. tee, OHG. zêha wk. fem. (MHG. zêhe, Ger. zehe, zeh), ON. tá, pl. tǽr (Da., Norw. taa, Sw. tå):—OTeut. *taih(w)ôn.
Beside the above forms OFris. had táne, mod.WFris. tean (dial. tane, teine), NFris. tuan, E.Fris. tône (tôn), also MLG. tene, MDu., MFl. teen, mod.LG. and Du. tén, teon, also mod.Du. toon from Fris.; the origin of the final -ne, -n is uncertain: it may be from the pl. On the pre-Germanic relations, see Kluge, Franck, Dornkaat-Koolman, Falk & Torp. The OE. pl. in -n survived in s.w. till the 14th c.]
1. Each of the five digits of the human foot.
Big or great toe († mickle toe), the thick inner toe; little toe, the short outer toe. (See also d.)
α. c. 725. Corpus Gloss. (O.E.T.), 141. Allox, tahae.
a. 901. K. Ælfred, Laws, c. 64. ʓif sio micle ta bið ofasleʓen, ʓeselle him xx scill. to bote … æfterre ta … midleste ta … feorþe ta … sio lytle ta … v scill.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 161/8. Allox, micele tan.
a. 1225. Juliana, 59. As þat istelede irn strac hire in … from þe top to þe tan.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 12967. Wit-vten hurt o fote or ta.
1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 683. Þe tas and þe fyngers alle. Ibid., 1910. In ilka taa and fynger of hand.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), xxii. 100. Þai hafe on ayther fote viii. taasse.
c. 1440. Thomble ta (see THUMBLE-TOE].
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, lx. 54. With his wawill feitt, and virrok taiss.
1513. Douglas, Æneis, V. vi. 66. His tais [v.r. tayis] choppand on his heill.
1583. Leg. Bp. St. And., 300. Palme croces, and knottis of strease, The parings of a preistis auld te[a]es.
1816. Scott, Antiq., xxv. Tak care o’ your taes wi’ that stane.
β. c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 268/253. Heo orn and ne watte neuere a to.
c. 1315. Shoreham, iii. 133. Ten fyngres and ten þine tone.
1340–70. Alisaunder, 194. Þe fairest feete … With ton tidily wrought.
c. 1400. St. Alexius (Laud 463), 317. Þe teres fellen to his tone.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 177. Þe bonys of þe toos. Ibid., Þe grete too … haþ … .ij. boones.
a. 1425. Cursor M., 6703 (Trin.). Foot for foot, to for to [Gött. ta for ta].
c. 1440. York Myst., xxii. 108. Þat þou schall on no stones descende to hurte þi tose.
c. 1450. Cov. Myst., xiv. (1841), 139. This olde shrewe may not wele gon,… Lyfte up thi feet, sett forthe thi ton.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 44. Euery hand and fote hath his fyngers & toos particularly distinct.
1591. Nashe, Pref. Sidney’s Astr. & Stella. ’Tis as good to goe in cut-fingerd Pumps as corke shooes, if one wore Cornish diamonds on his toes.
1632. Milton, L’Allegro, 34. Com, and trip it as ye go On the light fantastick toe.
1741. Monro, Anat. (ed. 3), 301. The Flexors of the great Toe.
1878. Gamgee, trans. Hermann’s Hum. Physiol. (ed. 2), 314. The toes … are of use in maintaining the balance, particularly in walking.
† b. To stand upon one’s toes, i.e., on tiptoe.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 24446 (Cott.). Apon mi tas of[t] sith i stod.
a. 1500. Ane littill Interlud, 45, in Dunbar’s Poems (S.T.S.), 315. He wald vpoun his tais vp stand, And tak the starnis doun with his hand.
c. 1573. Gascoigne, Fruites Warre, clxvi. Thus met we talkt, and stoode vpon our toes, With great demaundes whome little might content.
† c. Put for the foot as a whole, or the point of the foot. Obs.
c. 1290. Beket, 1444, in S. Eng. Leg., I. 147. A-non to is þies þe schuyrte tilde, þe brech riȝt to is to.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 5932. Man moght noght þeron sett his ta.
d. fig.
1607. Shaks., Cor., I. i. 159. What do you thinke? You, the great Toe of this Assembly?
1649. Daniel, Trinarch., Rich. II., ciii. Soe was it here; these Petty toes of State, Who would haue Trod a Galliard of Designe … Fell in a ligge.
1650. Fuller, Pisgah, I. iv. § 9. Mustard, the little Toe of trees.
2. Each of the digits of the foot of a beast or bird.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Nun’s Pr. T., 42. A Cok heet Chauntecleer … Lyk Asure were hise legges and his toon. Ibid., 511. This Chauntecleer stode hye vp on his toos.
c. 1400. Maundev. (1839), xxvii. 274. Psitakes … þat speken … and han v. toos vpon a fote.
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.), I. 63. As esie as to ken the lione be his taes.
1668. Wilkins, Real Char., 161. That which hath two toes behind in each foot, with prominencies upon the head like ears,… Chamelion.
1713. Derham, Phys.-Theol., VII. i. (1727), 339, note. Two of the Toes are somewhat joined, that they [wading birds] may not easily sink in walking upon boggy Places.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), IV. 262. The feet [of the elephant] … are divided into five toes, which are covered beneath the skin, and none of which appear to the eye.
1841–71. T. R. Jones, Anim. Kingd. (ed. 4), 810. The Rhinoceros has only three toes to each foot.
1860. All Year Round, No. 37. 247. Geckoes … by help of padded toes can run up walls like a fly.
1894. Nature’s Meth. in Evol. Life, ii. 21. The Eocene antecessor of the horse possessed … four separate toes, which subsequently became reduced to three, and at the beginning of the Quaternary Age the horse of the present day appeared with a single toe or hoof.
b. The front part of the hoof (or shoe) of a horse.
1566. Blundevil, Horsemanship, IV. cix. (1580), 50 b. If a Horse … halt … in the heele, as by ouer reach, or otherwise, then he will tread most on the toe.
1831. [Youatt], Horse, 181. Cutting down … at the union between the crust and the sole at the very toe. Ibid., 316. For work a little hard, the shoe shall still be light, with a bit of steel welded into the toe.
c. The ultimate joints of the tarsus of insects.
1826. Kirby & Sp., Entomol., III. 386. Digitus (the Toe),… includes the Allux and Ungula.
3. transf. The part of a shoe or stocking that covers the toes; the hood or cap for the toe sometimes attached to a stirrup; a toe-piece.
1600. Rowlands, Let. Humours Blood, vii. 13. From dish-crown’d Hat, vnto th’ Shooes square toe.
1722. Lond. Gaz., No. 6119/4. Narrow square Toe Shoes with high Tops.
1828. Scott, F. M. Perth, xi. Place thy foot on the toe of my boot.
1842. J. Aiton, Domest. Econ. (1857), 262. A stirrup for the misses, with toes to be taken off or on as the boy or girl mounts.
1886. C. Dick, The Model, etc., 95.
| Proud petticoats, which, reckless, fling | |
| Your flounces to the mud that flows! | |
| Skirts, short and sweet, that deftly swing | |
| Round pointed heels and patent toes! |
4. A part resembling a toe or the toes, in shape or position; (usually) the lower extremity or projection of anything; a point, tip; often identical with foot (FOOT sb. IV). (Cf. HEEL sb.1 5–7.)
a. Generally. b. The lower extremity of a spindle or screw, as in a press; the projection on a lock-bolt or the like, against which the key or a cam presses. c. A projection from the base of a wall; the foot or base of a cliff or embankment. d. The lower extremity of a gun-stock, rafter, organ-pipe, etc. e. The thin end of a hammer-head, the peen; the tip of the ‘head’ of a golf or hockey club.
a. c. 1440. Pallad. on Husb., XI. 49. Of vynes yonge The rootis … kitte hem not to nygh, lest they abounde Three toon for oon, or feester into a wounde.
a. 1643[?]. Sandys, trans. Seneca’s Œdipus. About the mast the youthfull Ivy twines, The lofty toe imbrac’d with clustred vines.
1725. Bradley’s Fam. Dict., s.v. Saddle, If … the Toes of the Fore-bow be too narrow and streight.
1866. Darwin, in Intell. Observ., No. 56. 85. The toe of the labellum.
1869. Sir E. J. Reed, Shipbuilding, iv. 71. The aftermost rivets were driven through the thin part of the toe, and knocked down in a countersink as usual.
1894. A. J. Evans, in Freeman, Sicily, IV. 234. The coinage of Syracuse had now become the only coinage for the whole of Greek Sicily, and even for the toe of Italy.
1904. Maud S. Rawson, Apprentice, 140. The old man … began to chip at the toes of the monster oak.
b. 1677. Moxon, Mech. Exerc., ii. 27. The Toe or Nab of the Bolt, which rises … above the straight on the Top of the Bolt. Ibid. (1683), Printing, x. ¶ 12. The very bottom of the Spindle … is called the Toe, it is … of an hemispherical form.
1833. J. Holland, Manuf. Metal, II. 216. By the operation of the handle, the toe is made to act upon the inside bolt, and thus force down the piston.
1839. Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl., II. 242/1. The toe of the screw works in the fixed cross piece.
1877. Knight, Dict. Mech., Toe, 1. a. The lower end of a vertical shaft, as a mill-spindle, which rests in a step, or ink. b. An arm on the valve-lifting rod of a steam-engine. A cam or lifter strikes the toe and operates the valve; such toes are known respectively as steam-toes and exhaust-toes.
c. 1838. Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl., I. 98/2. The mode pursued in blasting down high cliffs, by boring at the toe of the rock. Ibid. (1839), II. 433. Sheet piling at the toe of the wing walls.
1895. Law Times Rep., LXXIII. 156/2. Two vessels … drifted … on to the toe of a breakwater.
1901. Daily News, 5 Jan., 6/5. A second chalk wall was built to form a watertight toe for the new bank.
d. c. 1860. H. Stuart, Seaman’s Catech., 11. On the stock [of the rifle] is a toe.
1892. Greener, Breech-Loader, 94. It is too straight or has too much toe upon the stock.
e. 1873. E. Spon, Workshop Receipts, Ser. I. 412/1. Take an ordinary hammer,… place the toe upon a piece of veneer previously glued on the under side.
1909. Westm. Gaz., 8 Feb., 12/4. The question of whether the toe of the club should point downwards at the top of the swing or somewhat skywards.
5. Phrases (chiefly colloq. and slang).
† a. On old toes, in old age. Obs. b. The toe’s length, a very short distance. c. Toe and heel, (a) a style of dancing in which the toe and heel tap rhythmically on the ground; also attrib.; (b) in walking: see quot. 1865; also attrib. Cf. heel and toe (HEEL sb.1 14). d. From the crown to the toes, from head to (the) toe(s, from head to foot, all over: from top to toe: see TOP sb. † e. To claw one’s toes, to gratify or indulge oneself. Obs. † f. To cool one’s toes, to be kept waiting; cf. to cool (COOL v. 5) or kick one’s heels (HEEL sb.1 17). Obs. † g. To have or hold by the toe, to have a secure hold of. Obs. h. To kiss the pope’s toe, to kiss the golden cross of the sandal on the pope’s right foot, as a mark of respect: the customary salutation of those (excepting sovereigns) to whom audience is granted. i. To step or tread on the toes of; also fig. to give offence to, to vex. j. To turn one’s toes up, to die; hence toes up, lying dead. † k. To turn (a person) on the toe, ? to turn off the ladder in hanging. Obs.
a. a. 1400. Pistill of Susan, 305. Þou dotest nou on þin olde tos [v.r. toes] in þe dismale.
c. 1460. Towneley Myst., xxx. 592. He that to that gam gose, Now namely on old tose.
b. 1824. Scott, Redgauntlet, Let. x. No to be fit to walk your tae’s-length.
c. 1840. Hood, Kilmansegg, Marriage, xxiv. The gaping people … turn’d to gaze at the toe-and-heel Of the Golden Boys beginning a reel.
1842. J. Wilson, Ess., Gymnastics (1856), 103. A first rate walker,… toe and heel—six miles an hour.
1865. Routledge’s Ev. Boy’s Ann., 434. When the heel of one foot is on the ground, the toe of the other must be upon it. This is called toe-and-heel walking.
1869. Punch, 10 July, 4/2. Hungarians … dancing a toe-and-heel step to polka time.
d. 1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 11177. Þo stode hii I-armed fram heued to þe ton.
c. 1430. Syr Gener. (Roxb.), 3405. Fro the crovn to the toon Blak as cole thei were echoon.
c. 1489. Caxton, Sonnes of Aymon, x. 274. All armed from hede to too.
e. c. 1460. Towneley Myst., xiii. 414. Dos noght but lakys and clowse hir toose.
f. 1665. Brathwait, Comment Two Tales, 28. Cooling his Toes at the Blacksmith’s door.
g. a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 186. The Bishop thinkyng that he had God by the too, when in deede he had … the Deuell by the fiste.
1623. Bp. Hall, Serm., v. 139. While they think they have God by the finger, they hold a devil by the toe.
h. 1745. Derby Mercury, 27 Sept., 1/1. A small Medal … on one Side of which is represented his R——l H——s leading Britannia Repentant to kiss the Pope’s Toe.
1768. Earl Carlisle, in Jesse, Selwyn & Contemp. (1843), II. 296. I kissed the Pope’s toe yesterday morning.
1782. Priestley, Corrupt. Chr., II. x. 253. All other persons … must kiss the pope’s toe.
i. c. 1394. P. Pl. Crede, 649. For stappyng on a too of a styncande frere.
1840. Greensboro Patriot, 14 Jan., 1/5. I love the man who stops along on his toes that he may not tread on the toes or the heels of his neighbors.
1868. Browning, Ring & Bk., III. 1032. He could not turn about Nor take a step i’ the case and fail to tread On someone’s toe.
1879. Geo. Eliot, Theo. Such (1880), 119. A man who uses his balmorals to tread on your toes with much frequency.
j. 1851. Mayhew, Lond. Labour, II. 95/2. I thought I’d be by this time toes up in Slepney churchyard.
1857. Ld. Dufferin, Lett. High Lat., xiii. (ed. 3), 393. Ah, my Lord!—the poor thing!—toes up at last!
1860. Reade, Cloister & Hearth, xxiv. ‘Several arbalestriers turned their toes up, and I among them.’ ‘Killed…? come now!’
k. 1594. Nashe, Unfort. Trav., Wks. (Grosart), V. 36. He for his trecherie was turnd on the toe.
6. attrib. and Comb., as toe-action, -bone, -calk, -dresser, -end, -joint, -turn; toe-kissing, -scraping, -stretching, -treading (lit. and fig.), sbs. and adjs.; toe-like; toe-ball, the thickened fleshy pad under the toe; with quot. 1826 cf. sense 2 c; toe-board, a board for the feet to rest upon; also, a board marking the limit of the thrower’s run in putting the weight and similar feats; toe-boot, a boot (BOOT sb.3 5) to protect the hind feet of a trotting horse from injury by the fore feet; toe-cap, a cap of leather covering the toe of a boot or shoe; hence toe-capped a., furnished with a toe-cap; toe-clip, (a) an attachment to the pedal of a bicycle in which the toe of the shoe is placed to prevent the foot slipping; (b) a tip turned up at the toe of a horse-shoe, to keep the shoe in position (= CLIP sb.1 2); toe-crack (Farriery), a sand-crack in the front of the hoof; toe-dancer, see quot.; toe-drop (Path.), see quot. 1899; † toe-gleek, some variety of gleek; toe-hardy, a half-round hardy or cold-chisel; toe-hold, in Wrestling, a hold in which the toe is seized and the leg forced backwards; toe-link, a bottom end link; toe-movement, see quot., and cf. toe-drop and toe-scraping; toe-nail sb., the nail of a toe; toe-nail v., to fasten with toed nails: see TOED 2; toe-narrow a. (Farriery), having the fore feet too close when standing; toe-piece, a toe-cap; a toe-plate; in armor, the toe of a solleret; also, the lengthened tip of this; see also quot. 1879; toe-plate, (a) an iron plate under the toe of a boot or shoe; (b) a metal plate worn as a remedy for hammer-toe; toe-ring, a ring worn on the toe; a stout ferrule on the end of a cant-hook (U.S.); toe-scute = toe-plate (a); † toe-shell, a species of cirriped, Pollicipes mitella; toe-step (Mech.), the socket in which the end of a spindle works; = FOOTSTEP 5 d; toe-strap, -string, a strap or thong that secures the toe of a sandal, skate or the like; toe-tights, tights in which the toes are separated like glove-fingers; toe-tip, the extremity of a toe; cf. TIPTOE; also = toe-plate (a); toe-tuft, a tuft of hair covering the toe in some dogs; toe-walking a., that walks on the toes, digitigrade; toe-weight, a small knob of metal attached to the hoof or shoe of a horse to modify the gait in trotting; toe-wide a. (Farriery), having the fore feet too far apart in standing; toe-writer, one who writes with his toes; in quot. allusively.
1826. Kirby & Sp., Entomol., III. xxxiii. 386. Allux (the *Toe-ball). The last joint but one of the Tarsus, when remarkable, as in Rhyncophorous beetles.
1856. Aird, Poet. Wks., 15. The big Toeball just resting on the stirrup.
1907. Westm. Gaz., 21 Jan., 2/1. Here had trudged the bloody pirate … about to step the dance of death without a *toe-board under the gallows-tree up harbour.
1898. Guide Mammalia, 11. The tarsus, or ankle-bones, corresponding to the carpus, and the metatarsals and *toe-bones to the metacarpals and finger-bones.
1898. Daily News, 11 Nov., 5/1. An ill-formed boot with a foot inside, the toe bones all squeezed out of their natural shape.
1901. Munsey’s Mag., XXV. 736/1. The hind feet were protected with the *toe boots, while the action of the front feet was stimulated by the weight of the quarter boots, made of soft sheepskin or leather.
1877. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Toe-calk, a prong or barb on the toe of a horse’s shoe, to prevent slipping on ice or frozen ground.
1797. Wolcott (P. Pindar), Out at Last, Wks. 1812, III. 494. Come hobbling forth without one blush of shame With heel-taps, *toe-caps, soles for worn-out fame.
1907. Daily News, 4 June, 6. Shoes much the worse for wear, often broken across the toecaps.
1861. J. Brown, Horæ Subs. (1863), 378. His heavy shoes,… heel-capt and *toe-capt.
1908. Daily Chron., 6 June, 8/3. The N.C.U. … leaves it permissible—not compulsory—for riders to use *toe-clips, blocks on the shoes, or slots in the soles, or any other device for assisting to keep the feet in position.
1903. U. S. Dept. Agric., Rep. Dis. Horse, 405. The *toe-crack … extending from the coronary band to the sole.
1911. Webster, Sand-crack, a fissure or lesion in the horn of the hoof wall, often causing lameness. When in the front wall it is known as toe crack.
1898. Pall Mall Mag., Nov., 419. Mrs. Draper was a *toe-dancer … a young lady … flitting hither and thither on the very tips of her tiny feet.
1725. Lond. Gaz., No. 6399/3. James Stubs,… *Toe-Dresser.
1899. Syd. Soc. Lex., *Toe-drop, inability to lift the toes, or the anterior part of the foot, due to a local paralysis, usually from peripheral neuritis.
1689. Shadwell, Bury F., III. i. Women, go pack into the drawing room and play at *Toe-gleek.
1911. Webster, *Toe-hardy, *Toe-hold.
1897. Mary Kingsley, W. Africa, 606. He … pointed to his distorted *toe-joints, and informed me that once he always wore boots.
1896. Daily News, 9 March, 6/4. As I had said A—I was going to say B, too—and made up my mind to the *toe kissing.
1849. D. J. Browne, Amer. Poultry Yd. (1855), 30. Their legs are … armed with one or more *toe-like claws.
1885. Southern Standard, 18 April, 1/4. A distinctive mark was four dew claw legs about an inch in length, and with three toe-like appendages each.
c. 1850. Rudim. Navig. (Weale), 105. They are secured to the ship’s side by a bolt through the *toe-link, called the chain-bolt.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Chain-bolt, a large bolt to secure the chains of the dead-eyes through the toe-link.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 103. In some cases [of functional paralysis] … the *toe-movement does not occur.
1763. Daily Mercury, 28 Oct., 2/1. The late Indisposition of the Marquis of Rockingham, we hear, was occasioned by his Toe-Nail being cut too close, which festering, and the Gangrene spreading over the whole Foot to the Instep.
1856. Kane, Arct. Expl., I. 132. Bonsall was minus a big *toe nail and plus a scar upon the nose.
Mod. A chiropodist, attending to a defective toe-nail.
1900. Yearbk. U. S. Dept. Agric., 443. The braces are *toe-nailed in place to prevent the possibility of their becoming loosened and dropping down.
1903. U.S. Dept. Agric., Rep. Dis. Horse, 560. The regular position, the base-wide or toe-wide position, or the base-narrow or *toe-narrow position.
1879. Cassell’s Techn. Educ., IV. 131/1. The *toe-piece or extreme end of the body and boot [of a coach].
1894. Daily News, 4 May, 6/4. A very enormous boot would be required to receive the *toe-plate, as well as the foot. Ibid. (1898), 19 Aug., 4/5. The camp … contains everything needful down to the toeplates for the soldiers’ boots.
1847. C. Campbell, Rough Recollections, III. 115. They would strangle the Prophet himself for his *toe-ring.
1905. C. Davenport, Jewellery, v. 87. Toe-rings were common in India, but, like all native customs of this sort, their use is practically dying out.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VII. 150. Instead of the *toe-scraping of ordinary spastic disease, the whole foot is shoved forwards in walking.
1899. Quiller-Couch, Ship of Stars, v. A glint of daylight on the *toe-scutes of two dangling boots.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., Pollicipes, the *toe-shell…. They are multivalve flat shells, of a triangular figure, each being composed of several laminæ, which end in a sharp point.
1888. Lockwood’s Dict. Mech. Engin. Terms, 147. Foot step, or Footstep Bearing, a bearing closed at its bottom end, to sustain the end thrust of a vertical shaft or spindle. It is, therefore, a bearing socket, called also a step, and *toe step.
1911. Blackw. Mag., Dec., 780/1. The *toe-strap of one of his rope-sandals broke.
1862. Catal. Internat. Exhib., II. XXVII. 56. His new instep- and *toe-stretching boot tree.
1882. Floyer, Unexpl. Balūchistan, 72. They all wore huge knitted list stockings, with a division for the *toe-string of the suāss, or grass sandals.
1839. Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl., II. 318/2. Machinery for manufacturing shoe-heels, and *toe-tips.
1892. Symonds, Life Michel Angelo (1899), I. iv. 168. His whole frame laboured to the toe-tips.
1842. P. Parley’s Ann., III. 264. The elbowing, the *toe-treading.
1910. Daily News, 4 April, 12. The practice of gibbeting one’s enemies in fiction is not a form of toe-treading that one ought to encourage.
a. 1858. in Youatt, Dog (N.Y.) iii. 138. The ball pads being well protected by the spaniel *toe-tufts.
1598. Marston, Sco. Villanie, III. xi. (1599), 225. He dreames of *toe-turnes: each gallant he doth meete He fronts him with a trauerse in the streete.
1894. Pop. Sci. Monthly, June, 284. All the other cats in the world excepting Australia are digitigrade (*toe-walking).
1901. Scribner’s Mag., April, 422/1. A trotting dandy who sported ankle boots and *toe-weights, pulled up before him.
1903. *Toe-wide [see toe-narrow].
1845. J. Kitto, in Eadie, Life, ix. (1861), 307. The danger of being mixed up with the *toe-writers and learned pigs of literature.
