toeful

English

Etymology 1

toe +‎ -ful

Noun

toeful (plural toefuls or toesful)

1. The amount that can be kicked or grasped with one's toe.
   • 1954, James B. Hall, Not by the Door, page 169:

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

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

     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.

   • 1982, Max Martinez, Schoolland, page 131:

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

   • 2004, Cheryl Peck, Fat Girls and Lawn Chairs:

     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.

2. The amount that fills a toe (of a sock, boot, etc.)
   • 1970, Frederic Alexander Birmingham, Falstaff's Complete Beer Book, page 88:

     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!

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

     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.

3. A quantity that covers a toe.
   • 1985, Rebecca Flanders, Afterglow, page 120:

     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.

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

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

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

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

Etymology 2

toe +‎ -ful

Adjective

toeful (comparative more toeful, superlative most toeful)

1. Pertaining to toes.
   • 1924, Spear & Company, Catalog, page 144:

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

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

     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.

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

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