tread on someone's toes
The idiom "tread on someone's toes" conveys the idea of causing offense or annoyance by overstepping boundaries, often in professional or personal contexts.
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Definition
B2General
(informal)To offend or upset someone by interfering in their responsibilities or territory.
Example
- She didn't want to tread on her colleague's toes by suggesting changes to the project.
- Be careful not to tread on his toes; he's very particular about his work.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "tread on someone's toes":
stick one's foot in ittiptoe aroundtread softlywalk on eggshellsstomp onon the wrong footstep onget in someone's hairget under someone's skintoe the linewalk all overset someone's teeth on edgetoe inkick one's heelsput the boot infoul one's own nestwatch one's steprattle someone's cage