toe the line

Language: en

Meaning: ; (idiomatic)Toabideby therulesorconventions;(politics,in particular)to follow theparty line.Synonym:walk the lineAntonym:cross the lineTelevision shows these days do not alwaystoe the lineof decency and common sense.1831,Captain Basil Hall RN,Fragments of Voyages and Travels, reprinted from the London Literary Gazette inThe Atheneum, 4th series, volume 1,page 188:The matter, therefore, necessarily became rather serious; and the whole gang of us being sent for on the quarter deck, we were ranged in a line, each with his toes at the edge of a plank, according to the orthodox fashion of these gregarious scoldings, technically called ‘toe-the-linematches.’1910,George Bernard Shaw,Misalliance:JOHNNY. I dont know. You can draw a line and make other chaps toe it. Thats what I call morality.LORD SUMMERHAYS. Very true. But you dont make any progress when youretoeing a line.1920November 9,D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence,Women in Love, New York, N.Y.: Privately printed [byThomas Seltzer] for subscribers only,→OCLC:“Well,” said Birkin, “I begin to think that you can’t live unless you keep entirely out of the line. It’s no good trying totoe the line, when your one impulse is to smash up the line. Winnie is a special nature, and for special natures you must give a special world.”1921,John Galsworthy,A Family Man‎[5]:BUILDER. [Staring at her across the table] You've got my temper up and you'll take the consequences. I'll make youtoe the line.MAUD. If you knew what a Prussian expression you've got!1922February,James Joyce, “[12]”, inUlysses, Paris:Shakespeare and Company,[…],→OCLC:Gob, Jack made himtoe the line. Told him if he didn’t patch up the pot, Jesus, he’d kick the shite out of him.1965,Lennon–McCartney, “Run for Your Life”, inRubber Soul, performed byThe Beatles:And I can't spend my whole life trying / Just to make youtoe the line2010,Jennifer Egan, “Out of Body”, inA Visit from the Goon Squad:Last week, he'd told her he was hiring a detective to make sure she ‘toed the line’ on her own in New York.2016March 8, “Boris Johnson's staff told to toe the line on Brexit”, inThe Guardian‎[6], sourced from Press Association,→ISSN:Boris Johnson's staff told totoe the lineon Brexit [title]; ; (idiomatic)To stand at one's mark before afootrace.Alberto Salazar is one of the most famous athletes to havetoed the lineat this great race.; ; (idiomatic,followed bybetween)To be on aboundaryor in agrey areabetween two states.Her stories oftentoe the linebetween fact and fiction.2012, Dalton Higgins,Far From Over: The Music and Life ofDrake, the Unofficial Story, Toronto, O.N.:ECW Press,→ISBN,page98:Still other performers like St. Louis'sNellyor Long Beach'sDominotoed the linebetween rapper and singer, defying easy categorization.2015August 20, Allie Funk, “All About The ICA In 'Hitman: Agent 47'”, inBustle‎[7], archived fromthe originalon13 May 2016:Although the ICAtoes the linebetween good and evil, it is similar to many other espionage organizations in action films — including some recent ones.2017, Joseph D. Carriker Jr.,Sacred Band, Maple Shade, N.J.:Lethe Press,→ISBN,page85:Monica flirted with her outrageously, but Deosil made a point oftoeing the linebetween flirting and actually sleeping with festival folk. That never ended well.2019April 9, Priya Arora, “An Indian TV Show Points the Way for a New Generation”, inThe New York Times‎[8], New York, N.Y.:The New York Times Company,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe originalon25 November 2022:The conflicts between tradition and cultural change also play out in the protagonists' personal lives, and the show is not afraid to make its audience uncomfortable, especially when it forces characters totoe the linebetween being an insider or outsider.; ; (nonstandard)To push boundaries imposed by anauthority; topush the envelope; toflirtwithcrossing the line.Synonym:sail close to the windCoordinate terms:walk the line;cross the lineYou were reallytoeing the linethere with those comments.2006,Adam Selzer,How to Get Suspended and Influence People, New York:Delacorte Press,→ISBN,page80:"I happen to agree with you," he said. "But they don't want to leave themselves open to getting sued. And anyway, you're really sort oftoeing the linewith this video to start with. It's pretty risqué."2008,Robin Goldstein, editor,The Fearless Critic: Houston Restaurant Guide, Austin, T.X.:Fearless Critic Media,→ISBN,page122:Burgers, too, though enormous, are pricier than you'd expect at a lunch counter; at our last visit, one with fries and an iced tea cost $13.42—not prohibitive, but definitelytoeing the line.2013, Rowena Bowen,Get You Good, Detroit, M.I.[…]:Thorndike Press,→ISBN,page322:"Even so, this is reallytoeing the line." / Lissandra was wrong. This wasn'ttoeing the line. This was across the line and 20 meters away. If she got caught, there was no way she would be able to explain it away.2013March 16, Christopher Olmstead, “What Would Happen in aVince McMahonvs.Dana WhiteMatch?”, inBleacher Report‎[9], archived fromthe originalon25 March 2022:If you take anything away from this challenge, it should be that McMahon is still willing to go there. He is still willing to push boundaries andtoe the line.2020February 14, Dan Bloom, “Cabinet reshuffle: 7 reasons to be worried aboutBoris Johnson's power-grab new team”, inThe Mirror‎[10],→OCLC, archived fromthe originalon14 April 2013:Ousted Attorney GeneralGeoffrey Coxhadtoed the line, a bit - but he was also a keen defender of the legal system, and his legal advice on Brexit was a thorn in Prime Ministers' sides.2022June 29, Brandon Louis, “Loki's Alligator Loki Fight Scene Was Originally More Gory”, inScreen Rant‎[11], archived fromthe originalon10 July 2022:Even Raimi'sDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, a film that was markedly more horrific than any other entry in the massive superhero franchise, cut away from the film's goriest moments, such as Captain Carter's brutal bisection at the hands of the Scarlet Witch. Although the film definitelytoed the linewith Black Bolt's crunching cranial collapse.2017June 8, Sesali Bowen, “The Unexpected People, Places & Things That Make Kanye West Smile”, inRefinery29‎[12], archived fromthe originalon14 April 2023:Today isKanye West's 40th birthday — officially proving that he is reallytoeing the lineby calling himself a millennial.

Examples:

EN: You just toe the line, stick to the rules and, before you know it, they'll be knocking time off your sentence.
ES: Sólo sigue las reglas y obedece... y antes de que te des cuenta, habrán reducido tu sentencia.
EN: I'll make you toe the line.
ES: ¡Yo les enseñaré!
EN: - He's one of the men who didn't toe the line with certain people. So he was transferred to the marshes with the goats.
ES: - No se alió con ciertas personas y fue transferido a los pantanos con las cabras.
EN: Somebody with gumption enough to make her toe the line.
ES: Alguien con suficientes agallas para ponerla a raya.
EN: Mike, I want to tell you that anyone who has taught this young lady to toe the line has done a swell job, and I admit, I'm a little surprised that you had the stuff to toe with.
ES: Mike, quiero decirte que cualquiera que haya enseñado a esta joven a seguir la línea recta, ha hecho un buen trabajo, ...y he de admitir que estoy algo sorprendido de que hayas sido tú.
EN: Tell him that he'll have to toe the line with me, understood?
ES: Dile que sea obediente conmigo ¿entendido?
EN: They toe the line for the minister.
ES: Ellos acatan la disciplina del pastor.
EN: I've made them all toe the line.
ES: También yo les he marcado los límites.
EN: I guess she makes toe the line all of them!
ES: Ven, vamos a tomar un café.
EN: I'll toe the line with you.
ES: Te haré caso en todo.
EN: If you don"t toe the line. They"ll grind you down.
ES: Aquel que se comporta humanamente sale perdiendo, como Barras.
EN: And you'll toe the line!
ES: ¡Y andarás derecho!
EN: You're gonna get yourself respectable jobs and toe the line. From now on, there's gotta be a change.
ES: En adelante, tiene que haber un cambio.
EN: And if you don't toe the line, back to them is where you'll be going.
ES: Y si no corren correctamente, vuelven donde estaban.
EN: As to those of you with bad records... you will toe the line... as we all will.
ES: Los que tengan antecedentes... acatarán las órdenes, como haremos todos.

Note: the examples for non latin scripts have a high likelihood of mistakes, we do not own any of this data and it is sourced from Wiktionary, the NLLB database and Opensubtitles. Please help us improve this by contributing correct examples. We will be working to fix this issue over time however it is a bigger issue due to the the difficulties in dealing with non latin scripts and grammatical structures(non-romantic/european languages have lower resources as well ).

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