toe bean
- noun
- /toʊ biːn/
- Slang
- The veterinarian checked the kitten's toe beans for any injuries.
Examples
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My cat hates when anyone touches her toe beans.
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He posted a picture of his puppy’s pink toe beans online.
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My cat has the cutest toe beans!
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Look at those tiny toe beans on her paws.
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He posted a picture of his puppy’s pink toe beans online.
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The veterinarian checked the kitten's toe beans for any injuries.
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My cat hates when anyone touches her toe beans.
Synonyms
The soft cushion under an animal's foot or at the tip of a finger
How Soft
- Slang
Surface Forms
Morphology
toe + bean
The compound maps a familiar noun 'toe' with a playful metaphor 'bean' (small, rounded object), so a learner who knows those words can infer it refers to a small bean‑shaped part of a paw. Because the reference to the soft pad of a cat/dog paw is metaphorical and somewhat culture- or register-specific, the meaning is inferable but not fully predictable, making it partially transparent.
Etymology
Toe bean is a playful name for the soft pads under a cat's or dog's paw. People named them with toe and bean because each little pad looks like a tiny bean, so 'toe bean' now means those soft 'paw pads'.