toe to toe

• toe-to-toe

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• Rhymes: -əʊ

toe to toe (not comparable)

1. (literally) Positioned facing another, with the toes touching.
2. (figurative, of skill etc.) In the same level as someone else.

   standing toe to toe

3. Against, in direct opposition.

   go toe to toe with someone

   • 2012 June 3, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Mr. Plow” (season 4, episode 9; originally aired 11/19/1992)”, in The A.V. Club‎:

     It would be difficult, for example, to imagine a bigger, more obvious subject for comedy than the laughable self-delusion of washed-up celebrities, especially if the washed-up celebrity in question is Adam West, a camp icon who can go toe to toe with William Shatner as the king of winking self-parody.

   • 2022 March 31, David Yaffe-Bellany, “Ben McKenzie Would Like a Word With the Crypto Bros”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     Mr. Harris said he was confident he could go toe to toe with any skeptic; he bragged that he’d recently schooled some crypto haters from Vice News.

   • 2023 January 9, Andrew E. Kramer; Nicole Tung, “Without Hesitation, Ukraine Goes Toe to Toe With Russia in Bakhmut”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     It’s a grim stalemate that has taken on the rhythms of a heavyweight title bout, with each side going toe to toe in one of the longest-running battles of the war.

• “go toe to toe with someone”, in Collins English Dictionary.