Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The innermost or first digit on the hind foot of certain mammals. The human hallux is commonly called the big toe.
- n. A homologous digit of a bird, reptile, or amphibian. In birds, it is often directed backward.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The innermost of the five digits which normally compose the hind foot of air-breathing vertebrates; in man, the great toe. See cut under foot. It is the correlative of pollex, the corresponding digit of the hand. In ornithology it is the digit of the fewest joints, when there are four digits: in birds with three toes in front and one behind it is the hind one; in birds with four digits, all in front, it is the inner one; in birds with four digits, two behind and two before, it is the inner hind one, except in the trogons, where it is the outer hind one; in nearly all birds with three or two digits it is wanting. See cut under
bird .
Wiktionary
- n. anatomy The big toe
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Anat.) The first, or preaxial, digit of the hind limb, corresponding to the pollux in the fore limb; the great toe; the hind toe of birds.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the first largest innermost toe
Etymologies
- New Latin, from Latin allus, hallus. (Wiktionary)
- Medieval Latin hallux, blend of Latin allus, hallus, thumb, and Latin hallex, big toe. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Over time, that insignificant value becomes significant," said Connors, who rattled through an abridged list of Khannouchi's ailments—patellofemoral syndrome, ankle impingement, bone spurs and something called hallux rigidus, which is degenerative arthritis in the big toe.”
“The hind toe is called the hallux, and corresponds to the thumb of the human hand, so that in grasping an object it can be made to meet any of the other toes.”
“Osteoarthritis of the first metatarsophalangeal joint (MPJ) of the foot, termed hallux limitus, is common and painful.”
“We treat disorders and deformities of the foot and ankle as well as clubfoot, vertical talus, hallux valgus, fractures and other trauma.”
“I never thought I'd pin my life's happiness (at least for the next three weeks) on one man's hallux.”
“Compared to other hornbills, ground hornbills have elongate tarsometatarsi, and they also have short toes, though strangely with the hallux being the longest of the four (note that this is rarely depicted accurately in artwork).”
“Its broad feet, prominent and curved claws, large hallux, and palms and soles covered in small tubercles indicated that it was a tree-climbing species.”
“No primatologist or anthropologist seems to have made anything of this, but I've yet to see anything that would rule out an arboreal leaping stage in (small) hominids that would explain the transition to walking bipedalism (indriids can't do this with their huge divergent hallux, but we grip branches with the instep instead).”
“Species of the latter are specialized for life at high latitudes, and have short tails, a reduced hallux and inflated auditory bullae.”
“The Latin name for this is hallux valgus (hallux for big toe, valgus for bent outward).”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘hallux’.
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250 Extra Spelling Words
Some more words for intermediate and advanced spellers.
cultellarius, barouche, palanquin, badelaire, cavetto, tregetour, tergiversate, rhododendron, rhadamanthine, thyrsus, cappelletti, bradycardia and 238 more...
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See cut under
A list of words with definitions directing us to "see cut under" (or "see cut at") another definition (with hilarity occasionally ensuing).
Compare compare-cut-under.spider, scorpion, spoonbill, spur, tooth, feather, gnat, beard, gyrate, astragal, jog, countercheck and 92 more...
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phrontistery - h
from phrontistery.info
habanera, habile, habiliment, hackle, hackney, hadal, hame, hank, hansom, hapax, hark, harl and 568 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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Curses!
May you be (a) . . . .
umbraculiform, ushabti, zemmi, vaccary, larmoyant, uvate, guignol, capripede, caseic, catapedamanic, catawamptious, upanga and 25 more...
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X Marks the Spot
Words ending in "x" (except proper nouns and trademarks)
ax, ex, ox, soapbox, smallpox, six, sex, sax, rex, pressbox, climax, chickenpox and 208 more...
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All The Words
I enjoy collecting words, for I have no fear of them ever running out.
anacoluthon, defenestration, hypnopomp, hypnagogue, idioglossia, panopticon, tatterdemalion, abalone, caltrop, miasma, paroxysm, smalt and 475 more...
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Is it morning yet?
coterie, lexeme, counterbalance, forthright, pigtail, ponytail, french-braid, barrette, listless, counsel, sitting duck, dead duck and 268 more...
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epeolatrist's list
epeolatry, syzygy, sphallolalia, lucubration, lugubrious, cacology, mellifluous, tmesis, synecdoche, anathema, eschatological, razbliuto and 349 more...
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Gaw
Words for things both tangible and anthropic. I'm in the process of spinning off hardware into ute, and people into oofy.
cum-twang, naumachia, yngling, juggernaught, bliss ninny, iliac crest, moistened bint, slumlord, spondoolies, classy lady, charnel house, electrodoméstico and 334 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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the catch-all
inveigle, frontier, invective, quizzical, merit, proficiency, eleemosynary, ham-handed, circumspect, epergne, cobble, industriousness and 201 more...
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✖ LOCUTIONS
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lambda, coital, HUGO, fuggedaboutit, altrap, Hieroglyphics, Synergy, incarceration, Ethos, Devadasi, distraught, Patrician and 254 more...
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Collage's Words
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bloodworm's list
These are words that I enjoy because they are unique, rare, long, or just cool.
circumlocution, hysteresis, schadenfreude, quixotic, loquacious, ennui, sesquipedalian, defenestrate, obfuscate, syzygy, ubiquitous, superfluous and 231 more...
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EN - funny (single) words
"Fornication" is not equal to "formication".
Words with funny meaning, spelling or both.biffy, bibcock, barratry, bastinado, bezonian, bibliobibuli, bodewash, boeotian, boondoggle, borborygmic, bosky, brobdingnagian and 729 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for hallux.

ruzuzu *sits back and waits for inevitable hallux hyperflexion spam to start rolling in* May 21, 2012
yarb If a girl were to say that to me I'd be hers forever. May 21, 2012
blafferty First tweet right now:
“I will intercourse you so well that the PIP of your first ray will subluxate due to the hyperflexion of the Hallux!” May 18, 2012
ruzuzu See comments on macrotis. May 16, 2012
bilby Earlier comments were in relation to the Weirdnet definition:
"the first largest innermost toe". May 16, 2012
bilby Prime topmost awesomest! May 13, 2009
reesetee It's the bestest definition ever. May 12, 2009
vanishedone A veritable bouquet of superlatives, WeirdNet. May 12, 2009