toeful

plural toefuls · plural toesful

1. The amount that can be kicked or grasped with one's toe.

   Ahhh, he kicked a toeful of stones from the base of the ruined fountain onto the grass.

   1954, James B. Hall, Not by the Door, page 169

   3 more examples

   Hare dropped the cigarette and covered it with a toeful of sand, then quite casually he began to stroll toward the man, thinking with bitterness and resentment of this new world in which men like Pickett were numbered among those called friends.

   1959, Abraham Polonsky, A season of fear, page 214

   "Grandpa, this is Elpidio's mare, right?" I asked, kicking a toeful of dirt in the mare's direction.

   1982, Max Martinez, Schoolland, page 131

   One of his favorite forms of amusement was to fly around the house about a foot below the ceiling and strafe small children, dragging his feet through our hair, flying back to Germany or wherever he lived with toesful of our hair as souvenirs.

   2004, Cheryl Peck, Fat Girls and Lawn Chairs

2. The amount that fills a toe (of a sock, boot, etc.)

   Woe betide him if he drinks with the toe pointed upward, for as the boot is tilted, a pocket forms at the axis of the ankle and the entire toeful of beer suddenly breaks through the pocket, gushing into the face of the unsuspecting imbiber!

   1970, Frederic Alexander Birmingham, Falstaff's Complete Beer Book, page 88

   1 more example

   That Christmas remembrance was a real treat, it was yours, like. the handful of mixed nuts in their shells you might find in the toe of your Christmas stocking at home with the familiar bulge of an orange often seen before the toeful of nuts.

   1982, Edward H. Bonekemper, A Century of Serving in God's World, 1882-1982

3. A quantity that covers a toe.

   A surfers water composition is logged,then he gets a toeful of the nippy sea and cries like a 6-month-old baby

   2000, Brandweek - Volume 41, Issues 23-26, page 96

   2 more examples

   Still, she couldn't help fantasizing, as she lifted a toeful of bubbles out of the tub and watched the glistening foam cascade down her leg, what would happen if she were to rise up out of the water and, wrapped only in a towel, walk into the parlor to find Wes.

   1985, Rebecca Flanders, Afterglow, page 120

   She got toefuls of splinters for her efforts, but it was far better than listening to the ceaseless wail and moan of the undead.

   2016, Will Strange, Outlaws of New Jerusalem: Book 2, Wasteland

comparative more toeful · superlative most toeful

1. Pertaining to toes.

   Child will explore self-expression through tactile (toeful!) experience.

   2000, Marilee Robin Burton, Susan G. MacDonald, 365 ways to a smarter preschooler, page 84

   2 more examples

   A big roomful of handsome, toeful, superior, durable furniture at a slashing reduction in price.

   1924, Spear & Company, Catalog, page 144

   A Grand Parisian Ballet Troupe, on January 17th, brought variety into this hall of "Variety"; Bettie (sic) Remmelsberg led the dancers, and Miles, Antoinette, Coralie, Annie Zooner, Loviner, Palmyra and Fenton did their toeful best.

   1963, George Clinton Densmore Odell, Annals of the New York Stage