toe the line

Verb

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; (politics, in particular) to follow the party line.
   • Television shows these days do not always toe the line of decency and common sense.
   • 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.’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

   Synonyms:

   walk the line

   Antonyms:

   cross the line

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. (idiomatic) To be on a boundary or in a grey area between two states.
   • Her stories often toe the line between fact and fiction.
   • Still other performers like St. Louis's Nelly or Long Beach's Domino toed the line between rapper and singer, defying easy categorization.2012, Dalton Higgins, Far From Over: The Music and Life of Drake, the Unofficial Story, Toronto, O.N.: ECW Press, →ISBN, page 98
4. (nonstandard) To push boundaries imposed by an authority; to push the envelope; to flirt with crossing the line.
   • You were really toeing the line there with those comments.
   • "I happen to agree with you," he said. "But they don't want to leave themselves open to getting sued. And anyway, you're really sort of toeing the line with this video to start with. It's pretty risqué."2006, Adam Selzer, How to Get Suspended and Influence People, New York: Delacorte Press, →ISBN, page 80

   Synonyms:

   sail close to the wind, conform, stay within the lines, toe the mark, toe the plank