make someone's toes curl

verb

To cause a strong emotional reaction, especially an unpleasant one.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbmake someone's toes curl (third-person singular simple present makes someone's toes curl, present participle making someone's toes curl, simple past and past participle made someone's toes curl)

present singular third person makes someone's toes curl · participle present making someone's toes curl · participle past made someone's toes curl · past made someone's toes curl · alternative make one's toenails curl

  1. To cause a strong emotional reaction, especially an unpleasant one.

    He gave me a last lingering kiss that made my toes curl and left me panting.

    2021, Elle Cosimano, Finlay Donovan Is Killing It, Minotaur Books, →ISBN
    1 more example

    For every good thing in the week, there was something to make one's toes curl.

    1983 October, Listener and BBC Television Review, page 27
Cite this entry
APA

make someone's toes curl. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20someone's%20toes%20curl

MLA

“make someone's toes curl.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20someone's%20toes%20curl. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “make someone's toes curl,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/make%20someone's%20toes%20curl.

Source: make someone's toes curl on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.