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foot definition

Overview

This page has 39 definitions of foot in English, French, and Middle English. Foot is a noun and verb. Examples of how to use foot in a sentence are shown. Also define these 0 related words and terms: .

See also: Foot and Fööt

English foot definition

A man's feet
Diagram including the foot of a piece of type. a face, b body or shank, c point size, 1 shoulder, 2 nick, 3 groove, 4 foot.

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English fot, fote, foot, from Old English fōt, from Proto-West Germanic *fōt, from Proto-Germanic *fōts, from Proto-Indo-European *pṓds. Doublet of pes and pous.

Pronunciation

Noun

foot (plural feet or (UK colloquial, unit of measure) foot)

  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. (anatomy) Specifically, a human foot, which is found below the ankle and is used for standing and walking.
    Southern Italy is shaped like a foot.
  3. (often used attributively) Travel by walking.
    We went there by foot because we could not afford a taxi.
    There is a lot of foot traffic on this street.
  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.
  9. A unit of measure equal to twelve inches or one third of a yard, equal to exactly 30.48 centimetres.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 20, in The China Governess‎[2]:
      ‘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.’
    The flag pole at the local high school is about 20 feet high.
    1. (informal) Ellipsis of square foot. A unit of area.
    2. (informal) Ellipsis of cubic foot. A unit of volume.
  10. (music) A unit of measure for organ pipes equal to the wavelength of two octaves above middle C, approximately 328 mm.
  11. (collective, military) Foot soldiers; infantry.
    King John went to battle with ten thousand foot and one thousand horse.
  12. (cigars) The end of a cigar which is lit, and usually cut before lighting.
  13. (sewing) The part of a sewing machine which presses downward on the fabric, and may also serve to move it forward.
  15. (printing) The bottommost part of a typed or printed page.
  16. (printing) The base of a piece of type, forming the sides of the groove.
  17. (prosody) The basic measure of rhythm in a poem.
  18. (phonology) The parsing of syllables into prosodic constituents, which are used to determine the placement of stress in languages along with the notions of constituent heads.
  19. (nautical) The 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.
  20. (billiards) The end of a billiard or pool table behind the foot point where the balls are racked.
  21. (botany) In a bryophyte, that portion of a sporophyte which remains embedded within and attached to the parent gametophyte plant.
    • 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page 4:
      (b) sporophyte with foot reduced, the entire sporophyte enveloped by the calyptra, which is ± stipitate at the base.
  22. (malacology) The muscular part of a bivalve mollusc or a gastropod by which it moves or holds its position on a surface.
  23. (molecular biology) The globular lower domain of a protein.
  24. (geometry) The point of intersection of one line with another that is perpendicular to it.
  25. Fundamental principle; basis; plan.
    • 1732, George Berkeley, Alciphron, or the Minute Philosopher:
      Answer directly upon the foot of dry reason.
  26. Recognized condition; rank; footing.
    • May 20, 1742, Horace Walpole, letter to Horace Mann
      As to his being on the foot of a servant.

Usage notes

  • (unit of length):
    • The ordinary plural of the unit of measurement is feet, but in some contexts, foot itself may be used ("he is six foot two"). This is a reflex of the Anglo-Saxon (Old English) genitive plural.[1] In the UK, however, foot is colloquially used as a plural in all contexts for the unit of measure, even where such usage would not be natural in other varieties of English.
    • It is sometimes abbreviated ', such as in tables, lists or drawings.

Synonyms

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Descendants

Translations

part of human body
part of animal’s body
metrical foot — see metrical foot
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Dictionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also

  • pedal, relating to the foot

Verb

foot (third-person singular simple present foots, present participle footing, simple past and past participle footed)

  1. (transitive) To use the foot to kick (usually a ball).
  2. (transitive) To pay (a bill).
  3. To tread to measure of music; to dance; to trip; to skip.
  4. To walk.
  5. (now rare) To set foot on; to walk on.
    • 1722, Thomas Tickell, Kensington Gardens:
      […] Or shepherd-boy, they featly foot the green
    • 1937, Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Amistad, published 2013, page 84:
      People who would not have dared to foot the place before crept in and did not come to the house.
  6. (obsolete) To set on foot; to establish; to land.
  7. To renew the foot of (a stocking, etc.).
    • 19th century, William Shakespeare, Henry the Fourth Part 1 (modern edited version)
      I'll sew nether stocks and mend them and foot them too
  8. To sum up, as the numbers in a column; sometimes with up.
    to foot (or foot up) an account

Derived terms

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Dictionary:Entry layout § Translations.

References

  1. ^ Rich Alderson, “Why do we say ‘30 years old’, but ‘a 30-year-old man’?”,[1] in Mark Israel, the alt.usage.english FAQ.

Anagrams

French foot definition

Etymology

Clipping of football.

Pronunciation

Noun

foot m (uncountable)

  1. (colloquial) association football; football, soccer
    Zidane est un des meilleurs joueurs de foot du monde.
    Zidane is one of the best football players in the world.
    Toutes les semaines, il regarde du foot à la télé.
    Every week, he watches football on TV.

Derived terms

Middle English foot definition

Etymology 1

Noun

foot

  1. Alternative form of fot

Etymology 2

Verb

foot

  1. Alternative form of foten
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