turf toe

noun

: a minor but painful usually sports-related injury typically involving hyperextension of the big toe that results in spraining or tearing of the ligaments at the joint between the metatarsal and basal phalanx

Examples of turf toe in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Week 1 does not a season make, and a sparkling debut doesn’t always lead to a crown (looking at you, 2025 Joe Burrow and the royal scourge that is turf toe). — Hannah Vanbiber, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026

Cincinnati won its first two games last season, but then dropped eight of nine when Joe Burrow suffered a turf toe injury in Week 2. — ABC News, 14 Sep. 2026

Ben Sims continues to battle turf toe; Will Kacmarek is week to week with a lower-body injury; and rookie Seydou Traore and is raw and doesn’t look particularly playable at the moment. — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 31 Aug. 2026

After a promising rookie season with the Colts, Woods missed the next two years because of a hamstring tear and major turf toe surgery. — Antwan Staley, New York Daily News, 24 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

from the occurrence of the injury among athletes who play on artificial turf

First Known Use

1981, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for turf toe

• beau
• beaut
• beaux
• blow
• bro
• coe
• crow
• doe
• doh
• dough
• eau
• eaux

Medical Definition

turf toe

noun

ˈtərf- 

: a minor but painful usually sports-related injury involving hyperextension of the big toe that results in spraining or tearing of the ligament of the metatarsophalangeal joint