Word.ws English Dictionary

toward

Syllables: to·wardUK/təˈwɔːd//tɔɹd/

toward preposition: in the direction of.

Preposition

toward

  1. (US) In the direction of.
    • She moved toward the door.
    • [A]Nd when Balaam ſawe that it pleaſed the LORD to bleſſe Iſrael, hee went not, as at other times to ſeeke foꝛ inchantments, but hee ſet his face toward the wilderneſſe.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 24:1
  2. (US) In relation to (someone or something).
    • What are your feelings toward him?
    • So that the man that is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye ſhalbe euill toward his bꝛother, and toward the wife of his boſome, and towards the remnant of his childꝛen which he ſhall leaue:1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 28:54
  3. (US) For the purpose of attaining (an aim).
    • I'm saving money toward retirement.
  4. (US) Located close to; near (a time or place).
    • Our place is over toward the station.
    • I am toward nine years older since I left you, yet that is the least of my alterations; […]a. 1746 (date written), Jonathan Swift, “To Mr. Gay”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume XII, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […]...

Adjective

toward (not comparable)

  1. (US) Yielding, pliant; docile; ready or apt to learn; not froward.
  2. (US, dated) Approaching, coming near; impending; present, at hand.
    • Do you heare ought (Sir) of a Battell toward.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
    • On the morrow, after mass, our Lord Abbot [Samson of Tottington] orders the Cellerarius to send off his carpenters to demolish the said structure brevi manu, and lay up the wood in safe keeping. Old Dean Herbert, hearing what was toward, comes tottering along hither, to plead humbly for himself and...1843 April, Thomas Carlyle, “Practical Devotional”, in Past and Present, American edition, Boston, Mass.: Charles C[offin] Little and James Brown, published 1843, →OCLC, book II (The Ancient Monk)...
    Synonyms:
    imminent
  3. (US, archaic, obsolete) Promising, likely.
    • Clif[ford] Why that is ſpoken like a toward Prince.c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
    • My Miſtreſs had a Daughter of nine Years old, a Child of toward Parts for her Age, very dextrous at her Needle, and ſkilful in dreſſing her Baby.1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “A Description of the Farmer’s Daughter. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin]...
  4. (US, obsolete) Future; to-come.
    • But ear that wiſhed day his beame diſcloſd, / He either enuying my toward good, / Or of him ſelfe to treaſon ill diſpoſd / One day vnto me came in friendly mood, / And told for ſecret how he vnderſtood / […]1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 238

Proper noun capitalized: Toward

Toward

  1. A coastal village south of Dunoon, Argyll and Bute council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NS1367).
  2. A surname, apparently taken from the place name.

toward meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Tagalog and Arabic

toward in Hindi

in the direction of
... की तरफ़ ... kī taraf, ... की ओर ... kī or

toward in Urdu

in the direction of
... کی طرف ... kī taraf

toward in Tagalog

in the direction of
patungo

toward in Arabic

in the direction of
نَحْوَ naḥwa, صَوْبَ ṣawba, إِلَى ʔilā
in relation to
نَحُو naḥū
for the purpose of
لِأَجْل li-ʔajl
located near
بِقُرْب biqurb
More languagesFewer languages
toward in Malay
ke
toward in Indonesian
terhadap
toward in Persian
به سمت beh samt
toward in Thai
สู่ sùu, กับ gàp, เพื่อ pʉ̂ʉa, ใกล้ glâi
toward in Vietnamese
về phía, về hướng, về, cho

Examples of toward in a sentence

  • A falling body moves toward the earth with an acceleration of velocity.
  • The desert stretched out toward the horizon as if into infinity.
  • The problem's identification was the first step toward dealing with it.

All 40 example sentences with toward

Synonyms of toward

Antonyms

All synonyms and antonyms of toward

Forms of toward

alternative UKtowards

Origin of toward

From Middle English toward, from Old English tōweard, from Proto-West Germanic *tōward, equivalent to to + -ward. Cognate with Middle Low German tôwart, Middle Dutch toewaert (Modern Dutch toewaarts), Middle High German zuowart, zūwart (Modern German zuwärts). Compare also Middle English tilward, tillward (“toward”).

Words formed from toward

Phrases with toward

Words that rhyme with toward

40 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about toward

What does toward mean?
Toward means in the direction of.
What is toward in Hindi?
Toward in Hindi is ... की तरफ़ (... kī taraf), ... की ओर (... kī or). See Toward meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is toward?
Toward can be a preposition, an adjective or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce toward?
Toward is pronounced /təˈwɔːd/ (UK).

Words near toward in the dictionary

  1. Towanda
  2. Towaninny
  3. Towaninny South
  4. towans
  5. Towaoc
  6. toward
  7. towardliest
  8. towardliness
  9. towardly
  10. towardness
  11. towardnesses

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: toward (page history and authors); Toward (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-toward.ogg.

Cite this entry: “toward.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/toward. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.