toe-to-toe

adjective or adverb

ˈtō-ˌtə-ˈtō 

: slugging it out at or as if at close range

a toe-to-toe confrontation over the new policy

Synonyms

• eyeball-to-eyeball
• face-to-face
• head-on
• head-to-head
• mano a mano
• one-on-one

Examples of toe-to-toe in a Sentence

mom-and-pop grocery stores are usually wildly outmatched when they go toe-to-toe with large chain stores

Recent Examples on the Web

Game 4 will be remembered for its violence, and in the end, there isn’t a team in the NHL that is going to go toe-to-toe with the champs when the gloves come off. —Josh Yohe, New York Times, 1 May 2025

The everyman who stood toe-to-toe with one of the best players in the world and dropped an ace right in front of him. —Gerrit Ritt, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 May 2025

Harriet Haynes and Lucy Smith went toe-to-toe in the Ultimate Pool Women's Pro Series Event 2 at Robin Park Leisure Centre in Wigan. —Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 23 Apr. 2025

Despite being wonderfully designed and able to go toe-to-toe mechanically with any other fighting game out there, City of the Wolves doesn’t quite do enough to differentiate itself from its peers. —Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 21 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1942, in the meaning defined above