I. ˈfu̇t, usu -u̇d.+V noun
( plural feet ˈfēt usu -ēd.+V ; also foot ; see numbered senses )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English fot, foot, from Old English fōt; akin to Old High German fuoz foot, Old Norse fōtr, Gothic fotus, Latin ped-, pes, Greek pod-, pous, Sanskrit pad
1. : the terminal part of the vertebrate leg upon which an individual stands consisting in most bipeds (as man) and many quadrupeds (as the cat) of all the structures (as heel, arches, and digits) below the ankle joint or in digitigrade animals (as the horse or sheep) of the terminal parts of one or more digits often encased in a horny hoof
2. : any of various invertebrate organs of locomotion or attachment: as
a. : a limb of an arthropod
b. : the ventral muscular surface or a ventral muscular process of a mollusk flattened for creeping in most gastropods or tapering for burrowing in many bivalves — compare pseudopodium ; see tube foot; clam illustration
3. : any of various ancient and modern units of length based on the length of the human foot ; especially : the unit used generally in English-speaking countries equal to 1/3 yard and comprising 12 inches
a width of 16 feet
a 5- foot tree
six foot tall
— pl foot used preceded by a number and followed by a noun; pl feet or foot used preceded by a number and followed by an adverb
10 feet tall
— see cape foot , greek foot , roman foot ; measure table
4. : the least bit of length, distance, or area
payed out the rope to the last foot
dragged along complaining every foot of the way
I'll starve ere I rob a foot further — Shakespeare
searched the grounds foot by foot
5.
a. : the basic unit of verse meter : a single instance of the recurring pattern which constitutes metrical rhythm : a group of syllables constituting a metrical unit
b. : the basic unit in a rhythmic series of any kind whether metrical or not — compare cadence , meter
6.
a. : motion or power of walking or running : step , tread
graceful and light of foot
b. : swiftness , speed
the horse showed early foot but tired before the end
7. : something resembling a foot in position or use : the lowest supporting or structural part : base: as
a. : the lower end of the leg of a chair or table
b. : one of the areas of the base of a piece of printing type on each side of the groove ; also : the corresponding area in type cast with no groove or in wood type — see type illustration
c.
(1) : the basal portion of the sporogonium in mosses embedded in the gametophyte and absorbing food from it
(2) : a specialized outgrowth by which the embryonic sporophyte of many ferns and related plants and some seed plants absorbs nourishment from the gametophyte
(3) : the basal portion of an epidermal hair lying within the epidermis and often differing in shape from adjacent epidermal cells
d. : the lowest part of an organ pipe
e. : a piece on a sewing machine that presses the cloth against the feed
f. : footing 9
8. foot plural , chiefly Britain : infantry
three regiments of foot and two of cavalry
the 41st Foot
9. : the lower edge: as
a. plural foots : the bottom woven edge (as of a wicker basket) — see basket illustration
b. : the edge of a sail nearest the deck
c. : the bottommost part of a type page or printed page
d. : the lowermost edge of a book that is standing upright — compare binding edge , fore edge , head , tail
10. : the lowest part : bottom
foot of a hill
foot of a staircase
11.
a. : the end that is lower or opposite the head
foot of the bed
foot of a lane
foot of a line of dancers
foot of the class
b. : the part that covers the foot
the foot of a stocking
12. : something placed at the bottom: as
a. obsolete : the refrain of a song
b. obsolete : the sum of an account
13. obsolete
a. : footing , basis , rank
b. : customary value or price : standard rate of reckoning
14. : the point of intersection of one line with another line or the point of contact with a plane
15. foots plural but singular or plural in construction : material deposited especially in aging or refining
foots or soap stock precipitated in refining of fatty oils with alkali
: sediment : dregs : residue — compare break II 6d
16. : footwall
17. foots plural : footlights
•
- at foot
- at one's feet
- off its feet
- off one's feet
- on foot
- on one's feet
- put one's foot down
- put one's foot into it
- with both feet
II. verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English foten, from fot, foot
intransitive verb
1. : to tread to music : dance , trip — often used with it
foot it featly here and there — Shakespeare
2. : to go on foot : walk , run — contrasted with ride ; often used with it
foot it softly across the lambing fields — Roland Mathias
a couple of men tearing up the path as tight as they could foot it — Mark Twain
3. of a falcon : to seize prey with the talons
4. of a sailboat : to make speed or distance forward — contrasted with point
under all sail … she foots along in a light breeze — Luis Marden
transitive verb
1.
a. : to perform the movements of (a dance)
foot the saraband or some other intricate forgotten dance — Dixon Wecter
b. : to walk, run, or dance on, over, or through
foot the greensward
the moon … footing the treetops — C.E.S.Wood
footing his way to Paris — H.O.Taylor
2. archaic
a. : to kick with the foot
b. : reject , spurn
c. : to seize or strike with the talons
3. archaic : to set on a basis : establish
4.
a. : to sum up (as numbers in a column) — sometimes used with up
foot up an account
b. : to pay or stand credit for (a bill, expenses)
foot the cost of a trip to the mountains
5. : to make or renew the foot of (as a stocking)
6. : track 1
7. Irish : to set (turf sods) on end in small heaps to dry
footing turf is a job — Bryan MacMahon
8. : to splice (an arrow) with a footing
9. : to hold the lower edge of (a stage flat) in place with the foot to facilitate raising to vertical position