go toe to toe

go toe-to-toe

To engage in direct conflict (with someone or each other), possibly in close quarters. Adam and Joe are going toe-to-toe out in the schoolyard! I almost got hit with a punch as I walked by! The literary magazine and the science club are going toe-to-toe for extra funding this year.
See also: go
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

go toe to ˈtoe

(American English) fight or compete with somebody directly: I am not sure we could go toe to toe with them and win.
See also: go, toe
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • go toe-to-toe
  • go toe-to-toe with (someone)
  • go toe to toe with someone
  • toe-to-toe
  • stub
  • stub (one's) toe
  • stub (one's) toe on (something)
  • toe
  • stub toe against
  • stub (one's) toe against (something)
References in periodicals archive
'I wish I had a little bit more output to go toe to toe. I felt like he was getting a little bit tired, but he did have experience in the ring.
The Lionesses are ready to go toe to toe with the USA in tonight's semi-final in Lyon.
The first includes the Merseyside derby when Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool go toe to toe with Marco Silva's Everton - and Tottenham's visit to Manchester United.
Craig Levein: Revamped Hearts team can go toe to toe with Celtic
It's not about being defensive - you have to go toe to toe, match up to their qualities and we can do that in almost all positions.
We were never going to go toe to toe with Manchester City - teams have done that this season and conceded six, seven and eight," Newcastle goalkeeper Elliot explained.
"We don't want to go toe to toe with South Africa because that's what they want to do.
Sam 'The Tank' Thomas does not yet know his opponent but he is hoping to pack a punch as he prepares to go toe to toe over three two-minute rounds in the London event in aid of the Injured Jockeys Fund and Barnardo's.
You don't need to be able to go toe to toe with the champ to call a fair fight, you just need to have a love of the sport.
Everyone knows me as a slick boxer but I can go toe to toe as well.
The two go toe to toe for the first time at Meadowbank with Foster confident he can revive his career by copying fellow Mancunian Gomez, who overcame Arthur in an epic 2003 tussle to claim the British belt.
RANGERS welcome high-flying Hearts to Ibrox on Saturday as two title heavyweights go toe to toe.
Now Amerityre (www.amerityre.com; Boulder City, NV), a small company that currently specializes in tubeless tires for bicycles, golf cars and wheelbarrows, has developed a polyurethane auto tire that it claims can go toe to toe with rubber.
In the mainstream media, it is long past time for a progressive TV network to go toe to toe against Fox.
Asked if United will go toe to toe with City in an attacking sense, Mourinho said: "We're going to try.