toes

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of toe.

   The dancer pointed her toes with practiced precision.

   Tight shoes can leave your toes cramped and sore by evening.

   Note

   A regular plural that serves nearly every use of the noun: the digits of a foot, an animal's equivalents, the toes of shoes and socks, and anything toe-like at the far end of something. Wheel alignment can be counted too. The ballet form is the exception. It is uncountable, so it takes no plural. The same spelling is also the verb form, and only the sentence tells them apart.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of toe.

   The new recruit toes the mark without a word of complaint.

   Each runner toes the starting line as the official raises the pistol.

   Note

   Most at home where something comes fully up to a line: a runner toes the starting line, a recruit toes the mark. Most of its uses are transitive and take an object. A carpenter toes a board by driving a nail through its side at a near-45-degree angle, and a golfer toes a ball by mishitting it with the club's toe. It shares its spelling with the plural noun.

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