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big toe

big toe

19 1.0
The largest toe on the inside of the foot
  • noun
  • /bɪɡ toʊ/
translation icon : dedo gordo
  • The doctor examined my big toe to determine if it was broken.

If you hurt your big, if you break your big toe, your balance is done.

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Examples

  • I marked distances by using my big toe to draw lines in the sand.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • After stubbing my foot, I realized my big toe was throbbing with pain.

  • And then, of course, the big toe is the biggest.

  • If you hurt your big, if you break your big toe, your balance is done.

  • I mean, my right big toe is a little cold.

  • Lift up your big toe.

  • The nail on my big toe never grew back.

  • I pushed the On button with my big toe and waited.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • I've got a blister on my big toe.

  • "I remember tying and untying a gauze bandage on my big toe," my mother went on.

    Fiction book (1991)

Synonyms

hallux
vsbig toe
  • Specialized
1 9.9

The big toe at the inner side of the foot

is the everyday English name rather than a technical term
great toe
vsbig toe
4.0

The largest toe on the inner side of the foot

is the common everyday name rather than an alternative form

How Big

big toe
19 1.0
toe
526 1.0
little toe
4 1.0

Surface Forms

big toe singular
big toes plural

Morphology

big + toe

The meaning 'the largest and innermost toe' is directly and compositionally derived from 'big' (large) modifying 'toe' (a digit), following a standard adjective + noun pattern. This anatomical label is cross‑linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

The noun big toe is a simple, descriptive name: big because it is the largest toe and toe because it is one of the toes on the foot. Because it is both the biggest and at the inside edge of the foot, the term refers to the 'largest and innermost toe'.