toe to toe
1 of 2phrase
: facing one another
toe-to-toe
2 of 2adjective or adverb
: slugging it out at or as if at close range
a toe-to-toe confrontation over the new policy
Examples of toe to toe in a Sentence
Adjective or adverb
mom-and-pop grocery stores are usually wildly outmatched when they go toe-to-toe with large chain stores
Recent Examples on the Web
Matt Murschel, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 Mar. 2026
Apple has made great strides in combining the CPU with high-performance GPU cores, often going toe-to-toe with Nvidia in laptop graphics performance while maintaining a unified design that shares memory and resources for speedy work.
—Brian Westover, PC Magazine, 9 Mar. 2026
When the Knicks lost to the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder by three points at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, head coach Mike Brown was pleased with his team’s performance, a sentiment shared in a locker room that had gone toe-to-toe with an NBA juggernaut.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 8 Mar. 2026
He’s been growing into his body since and has put a huge amount of work into going toe-to-toe with the world’s best players over five sets.
—Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for toe to toe
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Adjective or adverb
The Knights, meanwhile, were heavy underdogs, but managed to go toe-to-toe with Duke, with the game coming down to the last shot.
—Matt Murschel, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 Mar. 2026
Apple has made great strides in combining the CPU with high-performance GPU cores, often going toe-to-toe with Nvidia in laptop graphics performance while maintaining a unified design that shares memory and resources for speedy work.
—Brian Westover, PC Magazine, 9 Mar. 2026
When the Knicks lost to the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder by three points at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, head coach Mike Brown was pleased with his team’s performance, a sentiment shared in a locker room that had gone toe-to-toe with an NBA juggernaut.
—Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 8 Mar. 2026
He’s been growing into his body since and has put a huge amount of work into going toe-to-toe with the world’s best players over five sets.
—Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 2 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for toe to toe
Cite this Entry
“Toe to toe.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/toe%20to%20toe. Accessed 14 Mar. 2026.
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