foot

plural feet · alternative obsolete foote · alternative dialectal feets · alternative nonstandard foots

1. A biological structure found in many animals that is used for locomotion and that is frequently a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg.

   A spider has eight feet.

2. anatomySpecifically, a human foot, which is found below the ankle and is used for standing and walking.

   The wave knocked me off my feet.

   2 more examples

   Southern Italy is shaped like a foot.

   And when I ſawe him, I fell at his feete as dead : and hee laid his right hand vpon me, ſaying vnto mee, Feare not, *I am the firſt,and the laſt.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 1:17

3. attributiveoftenTravel by walking.

   There is a lot of foot traffic on this street.

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   We went there by foot because we could not afford a taxi.

4. The base or bottom of anything.

   I'll meet you at the foot of the stairs.

5. The part of a flat surface on which the feet customarily rest.

   We came and stood at the foot of the bed.

6. The end of a rectangular table opposite the head.

   The host should sit at the foot of the table.

7. A short foot-like projection on the bottom of an object to support it.

   The feet of the stove hold it a safe distance above the floor.

8. A unit of measure equal to twelve inches or one third of a yard, equal to exactly 30.48 centimetres.

   My sis's just over six foot two.

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   The flag pole, which is 20 feet high, was hoisted by a six-foot tall man.

   No. I only opened the door a foot and put my head in. The street lamps shine into that room. I could see him. He was all right. Sleeping like a great grampus. Poor, poor chap.

   1963, Margery Allingham, chapter XX, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

   No trees have grown on the windswept Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean for tens of thousands of years — just shrubs and other low-lying vegetation. That’s why a recent arboreal discovery nearly 20 feet (6 meters) beneath the ground caught researchers’ attention.

   2024 September 27, Katie Hunt, “Scientists discover hidden ancient forest on treeless island”, in CNN

   1. abbreviationellipsisinformalEllipsis of square foot, a unit of area.
   2. abbreviationellipsisinformalEllipsis of cubic foot, a unit of volume.
9. entertainmentA unit of measure for organ pipes equal to the wavelength of two octaves above middle C, approximately 328 mm.
10. collectivegovernmentFoot soldiers; infantry.

    King John went to battle with ten thousand foot and one thousand horse.

    2 more examples

    His forces, after all the high discourses, amounted really but to eighteen hundred foot.

    1702–1704, Edward [Hyde, 1st] Earl of Clarendon, (please specify |book=I to XVI), in The History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England, Begun in the Year 1641. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed at the [Sheldonian] Theater

    In those days it happened that a regiment of foot was proceeding from Dublin to Cork.

    1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 536

11. cigarsThe end of a cigar which is lit, and usually cut before lighting.

    He removes a gold lighter from his pocket, flips it open, and waves the flame over the foot, taking short, sucking pulls off the head till it’s lit.

    2022, Jonathan Escoffery, If I Survive You, 4th Estate (2023), page 128

12. businessThe part of a sewing machine which presses downward on the fabric, and may also serve to move it forward.
13. mediaThe bottommost part of a typed or printed page.
14. mediaThe base of a piece of type, forming the sides of the groove.
15. human sciencesThe basic measure of rhythm in a poem.
16. human sciencesThe parsing of syllables into prosodic constituents, which are used to determine the placement of stress in languages along with the notions of constituent heads.
17. nauticalThe bottom edge of a sail.

    To make the mainsail fuller in shape, the outhaul is eased to reduce the tension on the foot of the sail.

    1 more example

    Flutter is when the leech or foot of a sail is vibrating from the wind

    2021, Mike Westin, Olle Landsell, Nina Olofsson, Par Olofsson, Seamanship 2.0, Bloomsbury Publishing

18. ball gamesThe end of a billiard or pool table behind the foot point where the balls are racked.
19. biologyIn a bryophyte, that portion of a sporophyte which remains embedded within and attached to the parent gametophyte plant.

    (b) sporophyte with foot reduced, the entire sporophyte enveloped by the calyptra, which is ± stipitate at the base.

    1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, Chicago, Ill.: Field Museum of Natural History, →ISBN, page 4

20. biologyThe muscular part of a bivalve mollusc or a gastropod by which it moves or holds its position on a surface.
21. molecular biologyThe globular lower domain of a protein.
22. geometryThe point of intersection of one line with another that is perpendicular to it.
23. Fundamental principle; basis; plan.

    To conſider the vvhole of the Subject, to read and think on all ſides, to object plainly, and anſvver directly, upon the foot of dry Reaſon and Argument, vvou'd be a very tedious and troubleſome Affair.

    1732, George Berkeley, “The Sixth Dialogue”, in Alciphron: Or, The Minute Philosopher. […], volume II, London: […] J[acob] Tonson […], →OCLC, section XXXI, page 121

24. Recognized condition; rank; footing.

    May 20, 1742, Horace Walpole, letter to Horace Mann As to his being on the foot of a servant.

present singular third person foots · participle present footing · participle past footed · past footed · alternative obsolete foote · alternative dialectal feets · alternative nonstandard foots

1. transitiveTo use the foot to kick (usually a ball).
2. transitiveTo pay (a bill).
3. To tread to measure of music; to dance; to trip; to skip.

   There's time enough, I hope, To foot a measure with the bonnie bride,

   1836, Joanna Baillie, The Phantom, Act 1 (Dramas 2, p.217)

   1 more example

   He saw a Quire of Ladies in a round, That featly footing seem'd to skim the Ground

   1700, [John] Dryden, Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, book The Wife of Bath's Tale

4. To walk.

   thieves do foot by night

   c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]

5. archaicTo set foot on; to walk on.

   […] Or shepherd-boy, they featly foot the green

   1722, Thomas Tickell, Kensington Gardens

   1 more example

   People who would not have dared to foot the place before crept in and did not come to the house.

   1937, Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Amistad, published 2013, page 84

6. obsoleteTo set on foot; to establish; to land.

   What confederacy have you with the traitors / Late footed in the kingdom?

   c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene vii]

7. To renew the foot of (a stocking, etc.).

   I'll sew nether stocks and mend them and foot them too

   19th century, William Shakespeare, Henry the Fourth Part 1 (modern edited version)

8. To sum up, as the numbers in a column; sometimes with up.

   to foot (or foot up) an account

9. IrelandtransitiveTo spread out and stack up (turf sods) to allow them to dry.

alternative Foote

1. A surname.

   Michael Foot (1913–2010) was a British politician.