toe the line

• tow the line

Unknown, with multiple competing etymologies and some theorizing the phrasing originated from the United States and others the United Kingdom.[1][2][3][4]

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toe the line (third-person singular simple present toes the line, present participle toeing the line, simple past and past participle toed the line)

1. (idiomatic) To abide by the rules or conventions.

   Synonym: walk the line

   Television shows these days do not always toe the line of decency and common sense.

   • 1831, Captain Basil Hall RN, Fragments of Voyages and Travels, reprinted from the London Literary Gazette in The 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-line matches.’

   • 2010, Jennifer Egan, “Out of Body”, in A 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.

2. (idiomatic) To stand at one's mark before a footrace.

   Alberto Salazar is one of the most famous athletes to have toed the line at this great race.

3. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) (nonstandard) To begin to cross the line, as if with one's toe; to test limits imposed by an authority, to push boundaries.

   Synonym: push the envelope

   • 2013 March 16, Olmstead, Christopher, “What Would Happen in a Vince McMahon vs. Dana White Match?”, in Bleacher Report‎, retrieved 24 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 and toe the line.

• fall in line

• up to scratch