See Also: Goat' s Foot, Hind' s Foot, Pied De Biche - Archery(gambling)
Foot(health)
Foot, N(medicine)
foot(2)(dictionary)
FOOT(medicine)
hen's-foot(medicine)
foot(1)(dictionary)
foot(encyclopedia)
FOOT(law)
foot rot(medicine)

foot(1) (iou)



foot noun. , (sense 7 also) foot, (sense 18) foots.
[Old English fot, pl. fet = Old Frisian fot, Old Saxon fot, fuot (Du voet), Old High German fuo (German Fuss), Old Norse fotr, Goth fotus, from Germanic from Indo-European base repr. also by Sanskrit pad, pada, Greek pous, pod-, Latin pes, ped- foot.]
I.
The terminal part of the leg below the ankle-joint. OE.
J. Steinbeck His feet did not stamp the clods or feel the warmth..of the earth. I. Murdoch He lightly stroked the feet, probing between the long separated toes.
b. The leg and foot. LME-M17.
c. A diseased condition of the foot. Only with specifying word. M19.
Madura foot, trench foot, etc.
Step, pace, tread. Freq. with specifying word. OE.
F. Marryat I was not aware of your presence. Your foot is so light. B. Jowett Dogs..swift of foot.
Power of walking or running. ME-M18.
H. Bracken Horses may alter as to their Speed or Foot.
a. The end of a bed, couch, grave, etc., towards which the feet of an occupant are placed; the lower end of a table etc. LME.
D. Dunnett At the foot of the bed stood Thorfinn.
b. The portion of a sock, stocking, etc., which covers the foot of the wearer. L16.
W. Harrison He will carrie his hosen..to save their feet from wearing.
Hist. Infantry. Also men of foot. M16.
Steele Their Foot repulsed the same Body of Horse in three successive Charges.
II.
Prosody. A metrical unit with a varying number of syllables, one of which bears a main stress; a similar unit of speech. OE.
III.
(Pl. also foot.) A unit of length; esp. one of one-third of a yard, equal to 30.48 centimetres. Also (with specifying word), an area or volume equal to that of a square or cube whose edges are one foot long. OE.
cubic foot, square foot.
P. Massinger A room of eight feet square. R. Hodgson Spiders big as bladders lie Under hemlocks ten foot high.
b. A distance or space of the least size. ME.
Shakespeare 1 Henry IV I'll starve ere I'll rob a foot further.
Any of various measures relating to specified commodities, esp. a measure used in tin-mining. Now chiefly dial. E17.
IV.
An adjustable piece of wood or iron fastened to the front of the beam of a wheelless plough and used to regulate the depth of ploughing. Also plough-foot. obsolete exc. Hist. ME.
The lower (usu. projecting) part of an object which serves as a support; the base. LME.
D. L. Sayers Three cut-glass goblets (one with a chipped foot).
The terminal point of the leg of a chair, table, pair of compasses, etc. LME.
D. Brewster Place one foot of the compasses in the quadrant NF.
a. Botany. The part by which a petal is attached; the root of a hair. L17.
b. Zoology. A locomotive or adhering organ of an invertebrate. M19.
Printing. Either of the two plane surfaces, divided by a groove, at the base of a type. L17.
Music. The terminal portion of an organ-pipe. M19.
The plate in a sewing-machine which holds the material steady. L19.
V.
The lowest part or bottom of a hill etc., or of any structure in an erect or sloping position, as a wall, ladder, staircase, etc. ME.
G. Berkeley A town situate at the foot of Vesuvius.
b. The beginning or end of the slope of a bridge. LME.
c. Nautical. The lower edge of a sail. L17.
Something written at the end of a document etc.; spec. (a) the sum or total of an account; (b) the refrain or chorus of a song. LME-E18.
Dryden A trifling sum of Misery, New added to the foot of thy Account.
sing. & (usu.) in pl. (foots). Dregs; refuse of oil etc.; coarse sugar. M16.
B. Randolph They raise the foot of the oyl, so that thick and thin goes together.
The lower end or bottom of (a page of) a document, list, etc. M17.
W. Wollaston At the foot of the page.
VI.
= FOOTING 7. M16-E19.
B. Franklin I wish all correspondence was on the foot of writing and answering when one can.
b. Ground, reason. L17-L18.
Horace Walpole The Prince excused his own inapplication on the foot of idleness.
Foothold, standing-ground. L16-M17.
F. Kirkman Hinder new love from getting foot in her heart.
Standard rate of calculation or valuation. L16-M18.
J. Locke He must pay twenty per Cent. more for all the commodities he buys with the Money of the new Foot.
Phrases: a foot in both camps: see CAMP noun2 5. at foot (of a foal etc.) accompanying its mother. athlete's foot: see ATHLETE 1. at the feet of in the position of a disciple or subject of, or a suppliant to. bind hand and foot: see HAND noun. change one's feet: see CHANGE verb. cold feet: see COLD adjective. cover one's feet: see COVER verb2 1. cut the grass from under a person's feet: see GRASS noun. cut the ground from under a person's feet: see GROUND noun. drag one's feet be deliberately uncooperative or slow to act. fall on one's feet: see FALL verb. feel one's feet: see FEEL verb. feet FIRST. feet FOREMOST. feet of clay (cf. Daniel 2:33) fundamental weakness in a person who has appeared to be of great merit. find one's feet: see FIND verb. FIRST-foot. foot and hand stepping forward and striking simultaneously (come in foot and hand, attack an opponent by so doing). foot in the door a chance of ultimate success, an opportunity to progress, esp. in have a foot in the door, have one's foot in the door; cf. toe in the door s.v. TOE noun. foot to foot arch. with one foot against an opponent's; in close combat. from head to foot: see HEAD noun. get one's feet wet fig. begin to take an active part. have one foot in the grave be or appear to be near death. have one's feet on the ground be practical and sensible. have the ball at one's feet: see BALL noun1 2. keep one's feet avoid falling, remain upright. land on one's feet: see LAND verb 3. my foot! colloq.: contradicting contemptuously. not let the grass grow under one's feet: see GRASS noun. not put a foot wrong not make a single mistake in behaviour or speech. off one's feet: see OFF preposition & adjective. on foot (a) walking or running as opp. to riding, driving, etc.; (b) (of an action etc.) afoot, in motion; set on foot, start (an action etc.). on one's feet standing or walking, esp. standing to make a speech; well enough to walk about. on the right foot at an advantage, in a favourable position, (esp. in get off on the right foot, make a good start). on the wrong foot at a disadvantage, in an awkward position, (esp. in get off on the wrong foot, make a bad start). put one's best foot forward: see BEST adjective. put one's feet up take a rest, esp. sitting or lying with one's feet propped up. put one's foot down (a) be firmly insistent or repressive; (b) accelerate a motor vehicle. put one's foot in it colloq. blunder, esp. inadvertently say or do something to cause offence or embarrassment. run a person off his feet or her feet: see RUN verb. set foot in, set foot on enter, go to, (a place etc.). shake the dust off one's feet: see DUST noun. shoot oneself in the foot: see SHOOT verb. sit at the feet of: see SIT verb. stand on one's own feet, stand on one's own two feet be independent or self-reliant. take the weight off one's feet: see WEIGHT noun. to one's feet to a standing position (in get to one's feet, jump to one's feet). tread under foot fig. oppress. under foot on the ground, with regard to conditions for walking etc. under one's feet in one's way, obstructing one's actions or progress. vote with one's feet: see VOTE verb. walk a person off his feet or her feet: see WALK verb1. with one's foot on the neck of arch. completely dominating.
Comb.: foot-and-mouth (disease) a contagious virus disease of cattle etc. with ulceration of hoofs, around the mouth, etc.; foot-bank = BANQUETTE; foot-bath (a) an act of washing the feet; (b) a small shallow bath used for this; footboard a board, esp. in or on a vehicle, to support the foot or feet or to stand on; foot-bone the tarsus; foot boy (a) a boy attendant; (b) arch. a page-boy; footbrake a brake in a vehicle operated by pressure of the foot; foot breadth arch. the breadth of a foot (as a measure); footbridge a bridge for pedestrians; foot-candle a disused unit of illumination equal to the illumination given by a source of one candela at a distance of one foot (equivalent to one lumen per square foot, 10.764 lux); foot-cloth (a) a large richly ornamented cloth laid over the back of a horse; (b) arch. a carpet; foot-drop Medicine a permanently downward position of the foot, due to paralysis of the dorsiflexor muscles; footfall (a) arch. the sound of a footstep; (b) (in marketing) the number of people entering a shop or shopping area at a given time; foot-fault noun & verb (Tennis) (a) noun a fault consisting in overstepping the baseline or running etc. while serving; (b) verb intrans. make a foot-fault; foot-folk arch. foot-soldiers, infantry; foot-gear footwear; foot guards infantrymen with a special guarding function; now spec. (with cap. initials) in the British army, the Grenadier, Coldstream, Scots, Irish, and Welsh Guards; foothill a hill lying at the base of a mountain or mountain range; foothold a place giving support for the feet, a surface for standing on, (lit. & fig.); an established place; a basis from which advantage may be gained or influence or support increased; cf. toe-hold s.v. TOE noun; foot-lambert a (disused) unit of surface brightness corresponding to the emission or reflection of one lumen per square foot; foot-land-raker a footpad; foot-licker arch. a slave, a humble or fawning suppliant; footlights screened lights in front of a stage at the level of the actors' feet; (fig.) the acting profession; foot-locker N. Amer. a small trunk or chest; foot-log US a log used as a footbridge; footloose adjective free to act or acting as one pleases, having no ties; footmark (a) rare a mark on the foot; (b) a footprint; foot-muff a covering of fur or similar material in which the feet are placed for warmth; foot pace (a) a walking pace; (b) a raised portion of a floor, a dais; (c) a hearthstone; (d) a half-landing; footpad [PAD noun2] Hist. a highway robber operating on foot; foot page arch. a boy servant or attendant; foot-passenger a person who walks as opp. to riding or driving, a pedestrian; footpath a path for walkers; a pavement for pedestrians at the side of a road; footplate a driver's and fireman's platform in a locomotive; foot plough a swing plough; foot-pound the quantity of energy expended when a force of one pound moves through a distance of one foot; foot-POUNDAL; foot-pound-second adjective designating or pertaining to a system of measurement in which these form the basic units of length, mass, and time respectively; foot-race a race between competitors on foot; footrest a bench, stool, rail, etc., used to support the feet of a seated person; foot-rope Nautical (a) a bolt-rope to which the lower edge of a sail is sewn; (b) a rope below a yard, for sailors to stand on while furling or reefing; foot-rot (a) a bacterial disease of the foot in animals, esp. sheep; (b) a fungal disease of plants, affecting the base of the stem; foot-rule a rigid measure one foot long; foot-soldier an infantryman; footsore adjective having sore feet, esp. from walking; footstalk Botany & Zoology a small supporting stalk; a petiole, peduncle, or the like; foot's pace = foot pace (a) above; footstall the base or pedestal of a pillar or statue; footstone (a) a base, a pedestal; (b) the foundation-stone of a building; (c) a (commemorative) stone at the foot of a grave; footstool (a) a stool for resting the foot or feet on while sitting (lit. & fig.); (b) a stool on which to stand to reach a higher position; footsure adjective sure-footed; footwall Geology the fault block which lies below an inclined fault; footwarmer a contrivance or covering for keeping the feet warm; foot-washing the action or an act of washing the feet, esp. as a religious rite; footway a way or path for walkers or pedestrians; footwear what is worn on the feet; boots, shoes, socks, etc., collectively; footwork use of the feet in sports (esp. football), dancing, etc.; agility, adroitness; footworn adjective (arch.) (a) worn by the feet; (b) footsore.
footless adjective LME.
footlike adjective resembling a foot E20.