tow the line

English

Verb

tow the line (third-person singular simple present tows the line, present participle towing the line, simple past and past participle towed the line)

1. (nonstandard) Eggcorn of toe the line.
   • [1946 April, George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”, in Cyril Connolly, editor, Horizon, volume 13, number 76, London: Horizon, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 255:

     Some metaphors now current have been twisted out of their original meaning without those who use them even being aware of the fact. For example, toe the line is sometimes written as tow the line.]

   • 2024 February 6, Brad Reed, “'Inexcusable betrayal': Liz Cheney buries her party for following 'Trump's orders'”, in MSN‎^[1], archived from the original on February 06, 2024, Politics:

     This isn't the first time this week where Cheney has slammed Republicans for towing the line for Trump.

Further reading

• Tow the line on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “"toe the line" vs. "tow the line"”, in Vocabulary.com Blog, 2021 July 21