/ fʊt; NAmE / noun , verb
■ noun
( pl. feet / fiːt; NAmE /)
PART OF BODY
1.
[ C ] the lowest part of the leg, below the ankle, on which a person or an animal stands :
My feet are aching.
to get / rise to your feet (= stand up)
I've been on my feet (= standing or walking around) all day.
We came on foot (= we walked) .
walking around the house in bare feet (= not wearing shoes or socks)
Please wipe your feet (= your shoes) on the mat.
a foot pump (= operated using your foot, not your hand)
a foot passenger (= one who travels on a ferry without a car)
—picture at body
—see also athlete's foot , barefoot , club foot , underfoot ➡ note at stand
-FOOTED
2.
(in adjectives and adverbs) having or using the type or number of foot / feet mentioned :
bare-footed
four-footed
a left-footed shot into the corner
—see also flat-footed , sure-footed
PART OF SOCK
3.
[ C , usually sing. ] the part of a sock, stocking , etc. that covers the foot
BASE / BOTTOM
4.
[ sing. ] the ~ of sth the lowest part of sth; the base or bottom of sth :
the foot of the stairs / page / mountain
The nurse hung a chart at the foot of the bed (= the part of the bed where your feet normally are when you are lying in it) .
➡ note at bottom
MEASUREMENT
5.
( pl. feet or foot ) ( abbr. ft ) a unit for measuring length equal to 12 inches or 30.48 centimetres :
a 6-foot high wall
We're flying at 35 000 feet.
'How tall are you?' 'Five foot nine' (= five feet and nine inches) .
-FOOTER
6.
(in compound nouns) a person or thing that is a particular number of feet tall or long :
His boat is an eighteen-footer.
IN POETRY
7.
[ sing. ] ( technical ) a unit of rhythm in a line of poetry containing one stressed syllable and one or more syllables without stress. Each of the four divisions in the following line is a foot :
For ˈmen / may ˈcome / and ˈmen / may ˈgo.
•
IDIOMS
- be rushed / run off your feet
- fall / land on your feet
- feet first
- get / have a / your foot in the door
- get / start off on the right / wrong foot (with sb)
- get your feet wet
- have feet of clay
- have / keep your feet on the ground
- have / keep a foot in both camps
- have one foot in the grave
- ... my foot!
- on your feet
- put your best foot forward
- put your feet up
- put your foot down
- put your foot in it
- put a foot wrong
- set foot in / on sth
- set sb/sth on their / its feet
- stand on your own (two) feet
- under your feet
—more at boot noun , cold adjective , drag verb , find verb , grass noun , ground noun , hand noun , head noun , itchy , left adjective , patter noun , pull verb , shoe noun , shoot verb , sit , stocking , sweep verb , think verb , vote verb , wait verb , walk verb , weight noun , world
■ verb
•
IDIOMS
- foot the bill
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English fōt , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch voet and German Fuss , from an Indo-European root shared by Sanskrit pad, pāda , Greek pous, pod- , and Latin pes, ped- foot.