toe-to-toe

[ toh-tuh-toh ]

/ ˈtoʊ təˈtoʊ /

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adjective

being in direct confrontation or opposition.

adverb

in a position or attitude of direct confrontation: slugging it out toe-to-toe.

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Origin of toe-to-toe

First recorded in 1925–30

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use toe-to-toe in a sentence

What 15 months in a federal correction institution will be like, according to a man who counsels to-be inmates.
How a ‘Real Housewife’ Survives Prison: ‘I Don’t See [Teresa Giudice] Having a Cakewalk Here’|Michael Howard|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
That means the F-35 will be almost entirely reliant on long-range air-to-air missiles.
New U.S. Stealth Jet Can’t Fire Its Gun Until 2019|Dave Majumdar|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It will still carry a pair of Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM long-range air-to-air missiles and a pair of bombs.
New U.S. Stealth Jet Can’t Fire Its Gun Until 2019|Dave Majumdar|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“James Woods refuses to toe the Hollyweird line,” Twitchy managing editor Lori Ziganto told The Daily Beast in an email.
How James Woods Became Obama’s Biggest Twitter Troll|Asawin Suebsaeng|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The lack of a gun is not likely to be a major problem for close-in air-to-air dogfights against other jets.
New U.S. Stealth Jet Can’t Fire Its Gun Until 2019|Dave Majumdar|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If the "Y" Beach lot press their advantage they may cut off the enemy troops on the toe of the Peninsula.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton
Each day she resolved, "To-morrow I will tell Felipe;" and when to-morrow came, she put it off again.
Ramona|Helen Hunt Jackson
All the operations of her brain related themselves somehow to to-morrow afternoon.
Hilda Lessways|Arnold Bennett
"Buy something for your wife that-is-to-be," he said to his grand-nephew, as he handed him the folded paper.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
Something remote and ancient stirred in her, something that was not of herself To-day, something half primitive, half barbaric.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood

British Dictionary definitions for toe-to-toe

toe-to-toe

/ informal /

adverb

in one-to-one combat or in direct competitionthere aren't many fighters willing to go toe-to-toe with him

adjective

(of battles, confrontations, or contests) involving two people or groups fighting with or competing against each othera toe-to-toe battle

noun

a fight, confrontation, or contest between two people or groups

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012