shoestring

English

Etymology

The noun is derived from shoe +‎ string. The adjective is derived from the noun, while the verb is derived from terms such as shoestring catch and shoestring tackle.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈʃuːstɹɪŋ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈʃustɹɪŋ/
• Hyphenation: shoe‧string

Noun

shoestring (plural shoestrings)

1. (chiefly US) The string or lace used to secure a shoe to the foot; a shoelace.

   Your shoestring is untied.

   • 1755, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, “The Pleasant Artifice Practised to Extricate Our Enamoured Knight from the Most Rigorous Penance He had Imposed upon Himself”, in T[obias] Smollett, transl., The History and Adventures of the Renowned Don Quixote. […], volume I, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, part I, book IV, page 221:

     I am ſure ſhe is not half ſo beautiful, and vvill even venture to ſay, that ſhe is not vvorthy to tie her majeſty's ſhoe-ſtrings.

   • String definition

     A long, thin and flexible structure made from threads twisted together. (1 of 34 string definitions)

   • Lace definition

     (1 of 5 lace definitions)

   • Use definition

     The act of using. (1 of 10 use definitions)

   • Secure definition

     Free from attack or danger; protected. (1 of 9 secure definitions)

   • Shoe definition

     A protective covering for the foot, with a bottom part composed of thick leather or plastic sole and often a thicker heel, and a softer upper part made of leather or synthetic material. Shoes generally do not extend above the ankle, as opposed to boots, which do. (1 of 17 shoe definitions)

   • Foot definition

     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. (1 of 28 foot definitions)

   • Shoelace definition

     A lace used for fastening a shoe.
2. (figuratively, often attributively)
   1. An object that is long and thin, like a shoestring (sense 1).
      1. (cooking) A long, narrow cut of a food; a julienne.

         shoestring French fries

   2. Chiefly in on a shoestring: very little money; a tight budget.

      He was able to organize the event on a shoestring.

      • 2022 November 23, Hadley Freeman, “Like a cinema virgin: how Madonna went stratospheric making Desperately Seeking Susan”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

        As the 80s cult classic starring Madonna as a gorgeous grifter returns, director Susan Seidelman recalls capturing the zeitgeist on a shoestring budget[.]

   • Object definition

     A thing that has physical existence but is not alive. (1 of 9 object definitions)

   • Long definition

     (1 of 17 long definitions)

   • Thin definition

     Having little thickness or extent from one surface to its opposite. (1 of 10 thin definitions)

   • Cooking definition

     The process of preparing food by using heat. (1 of 6 cooking definitions)

   • Narrow definition

     Having a small width; not wide; having opposite edges or sides that are close, especially by comparison to length or depth. (1 of 9 narrow definitions)

   • Cut definition

     To incise, to cut into the surface of something.

     1. To perform an incision on, for example with a knife.
     2. To divide with a knife, scissors, or another sharp instrument. (1 of 35 cut definitions)

   • Food definition

     Any solid substance that can be consumed by living organisms, especially by eating, in order to sustain life. (1 of 4 food definitions)

   • Julienne definition

     A garnish of vegetables cut into long, thin strips.

   • On A Shoestring definition

     On a very tight budget; with few resources or little money.

   • Little definition

     Small in size. (1 of 12 little definitions)

   • Money definition

     A legally or socially binding conceptual contract of entitlement to wealth, void of intrinsic value, payable for all debts and taxes, and regulated in supply. (1 of 8 money definitions)

   • Tight definition

     Firmly held together; compact; not loose or open. (1 of 24 tight definitions)

   • Budget definition

     The amount of money or resources earmarked for a particular institution, activity or timeframe. (1 of 6 budget definitions)

Coordinate terms

• bootstring

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

shoestring (not comparable)

1. (US, chiefly American football, baseball) Of a catch or tackle: made near the ground, close to a player's shoes.

   • American Football definition

     A game similar to rugby football played on a field of 100 yards long and 53 1/3 yards wide (with two 10 yard-long endzones) in which two teams of 11 players attempt to get an ovoid ball into each other's territory.

   • Baseball definition

     A sport common in North America, the Caribbean, and Japan, in which the object is to strike a ball so that one of a nine-person team can run counter-clockwise among four bases, resulting in the scoring of a run. The team with the most runs after termination of play, usually nine innings, wins. (1 of 3 baseball definitions)

   • Catch definition

     The act of seizing or capturing. (1 of 24 catch definitions)

   • Tackle definition

     A device for grasping an object and an attached means of moving it, as a rope and hook. (1 of 11 tackle definitions)

   • Make definition

     To create.

     1. To build, construct, produce, or originate. (1 of 41 make definitions)

   • Ground definition

     (1 of 24 ground definitions)

   • Close definition

     To remove a gap.

     1. To move a thing, or part of a thing, nearer to another so that the gap or opening between the two is removed. (1 of 18 close definitions)

   • Player definition

     One that plays

     1. One who plays any game or sport. (1 of 12 player definitions)

Derived terms

• shoestring catch
• shoestring tackle

Translations

Verb

shoestring (third-person singular simple present shoestrings, present participle shoestringing, simple past and past participle shoestringed)

1. (transitive, American football) To tackle (a player) using a shoestring tackle (“one made near the ground, close to a player's shoes”).

   • Shoestring Tackle definition

     A tackle made about the feet or ankles.
2. (transitive, baseball) To catch (a ball) using a shoestring catch (“one made near the ground, close to a player's shoes”).
   • 1976, Paul R. Rothweiler, The Sensuous Southpaw […], New York, N.Y.: Putnam, →ISBN, page 104:

     We didn't score in our half of the eighth, but it was only because Ernie's line drive was shoestringed by the Giant left fielder, with Rusty Howarth on second.

   • 1981 April 13, Steve Wulf, “Tricks of the Trade”, in Sports Illustrated Baseball: Four Decades of Sports Illustrated’s Finest Writing on America’s Favorite Pastime (Collector’s Library), Birmingham, Ala.: Oxmoor House, published 1994, →ISBN, page 275:

     Most outfielders say that short-hopping a ball so that it looks as if it was caught is more an accident than an art form, but Coach Joe Nossek of the Indians actually tells his charges to hold up the ball after shoestringing it on the off chance that the umpire might be fooled.

   • Ball definition

     A solid or hollow sphere, or roughly spherical mass. (1 of 25 ball definitions)

   • Shoestring Catch definition

     A fielding play, typically made by an outfielder, who catches a ball near his shoes, often after a long run.

Translations

Further reading

• shoelace on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• shoestring (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “shoestring, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2022.
• “shoestring, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.