Meanings
- uncountableA dance move in which the dancer alternately places or taps the heel and then the toe of the same foot; also used of various other sequences involving heel and toe movements.
1 more example
[T]he young bachelors that wanted to show aff their dancin' an' their new pumps, an' their bright red or green an' yellow garthers, swore that it confused thim so that they cud nivir go rightly through the heel-and-toe, or cover-the-buckle, or any uv their best steps, but felt thimsilves always bedizzied an' bewildhered[.]
1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 524 - attributiveuncountableA mode of walking in which the heel of one foot is put on the ground before the toe of the other leaves it.
Synonyms: toe-and-heel
- uncountablegovernmentOf a system of watches: comprising equal-length periods on and off watch.
It is most essential on a passage where the watches are heel and toe, four on, four off, that the watch below be a time of real rest.
1965, Boating (volume 18, numbers 1-6, page 28)1 more example
Back when we'd started the heel-and-toe watches, I'd offset the schedule six hours in order to have both squadrons up and ready during the initial attack.
2011, Phil Geusz, No Victory Won, page 354
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA mode of walking in which the heel of one foot is put on the ground before the toe of the other leaves it.
Cite this entry
heel-and-toe. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heel-and-toe
“heel-and-toe.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heel-and-toe. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “heel-and-toe,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/heel-and-toe.
Source: heel-and-toe on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.