# foot

Pronunciation: say "FUUT" /fʊt/

## Noun

1. The part of the leg below the ankle that a person or animal stands and walks on.
   - Simple: The part at the end of a leg that a person or animal stands and walks on.
   - _The doctor examined his swollen foot for signs of a fracture._
   - _Balancing on one foot, she reached for the top shelf._
2. A unit of length equal to twelve inches or one third of a yard, exactly 30.48 centimeters.
   - Simple: A length equal to twelve inches, used to measure things.
   - _A board just over a foot in length will do the job._
   - _The fence around the yard stands six feet tall._
3. Movement from one place to another achieved by walking.
   - Simple: The act of going somewhere by walking.
   - _The hikers continued on foot once the road ran out._
   - _Messengers once delivered letters on foot across long distances._
4. Short for square foot: a unit of area equal to a square one foot on each side, used for floor space and rents. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Short for square foot: a unit for measuring the size of a floor or room.
   - _Office space downtown now rents for about forty dollars a foot each year._
   - _Buyers were told the cottage offered just nine hundred feet of living space._
5. The bottom or lowest part of something, such as a hill, a staircase, a wall, or a page.
   - Simple: The bottom part of something, like a hill, the stairs, or a page.
   - _A small stream ran along the foot of the hill._
   - _They planted roses at the foot of the garden wall._
6. A short, leg-like support attached to the bottom of an object.
   - Simple: A small part on the bottom of an object that holds it up.
   - _A felt pad protects the floor under each foot of the chair._
   - _The cabinet wobbled because one foot had broken off._
8. The end of a bed, table, or similar thing opposite the head, where the feet rest or the less important people sit.
   - Simple: The end of a bed or table that is opposite the head end.
   - _The youngest guests were seated at the foot of the table._
   - _He carved the roast from the foot of the long banquet table._
10. Soldiers who fight on foot, considered collectively; the infantry.
   - Simple: Soldiers who march and fight on foot, not on horses.
   - _The king's foot advanced under cover of darkness._
   - _Cavalry charged the flank while the foot held the line._
11. Short for cubic foot: a unit of volume equal to a cube one foot on each side, used especially for measuring natural gas. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Short for cubic foot: a unit of volume, often used to measure gas.
   - _The pipeline moved over a million feet of gas through the valley each day._
   - _In those days, natural gas sold for well under a cent a foot._
13. The muscular organ of a snail, clam, or similar mollusk, used to move along or to grip a surface.
   - Simple: The strong muscle a snail or clam uses to move or hold onto a surface.
   - _The mussel extends its foot to anchor itself firmly among the rocks._
   - _A garden snail glides along on the broad sole of its foot._
14. A metrical unit of syllables forming a rhythmic pattern in verse, or a grouping organized around stress in speech.
   - Simple: A group of syllables treated as one unit of rhythm or stress in poetry or speech.
   - _An iamb is a foot with one unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one._
   - _Scanning the verse, she marked each foot with a small slash._
16. The part of a sewing machine that presses down on the fabric and may also help move it forward.
   - Simple: The part of a sewing machine that holds the fabric down as you sew.
   - _She raised the foot to slide the finished fabric out._
   - _A worn foot can let the cloth bunch up while stitching._
18. In a sock, stocking, or garment with built-in feet, the part below the ankle that holds the wearer's foot.
   - Simple: The part of a sock or similar piece of clothing that covers your foot, below the ankle.
   - _She knits the leg of the stocking first, then turns the heel and works the foot down to the toe._
   - _The foot of these hiking socks is cushioned, while the leg is thin and breathable._

## Verb

7. To pay a bill or cover the full cost of something.
   - Simple: To pay for something, especially the whole cost.
   - _Taxpayers ultimately foot the bill for the repairs._
   - _He offered to foot the entire dinner tab._
12. To travel somewhere by walking; to go on foot.
   - Simple: To go somewhere on foot, or to walk.
   - _With no taxi in sight, they decided to foot it to the station._
   - _She footed it the last mile to the cabin._
15. To kick something, usually a ball, using the foot.
   - Simple: To kick something, usually a ball, with your foot.
   - _Rather than risk a fumble on the slippery grass, the flanker chose to foot the loose ball toward the corner._
   - _With the ball bouncing loose in the mud, the winger footed it forward and chased it toward the try line._
17. To find the total of a set of figures, such as a column; sometimes followed by up.
   - Simple: To add up a column of numbers to find the total.
   - _Accountants foot every column before signing off on the ledger._
   - _She footed up the day's takings and found a small error._

## Noun

9. A footing or basis; the standing, condition, or principle on which something rests or is arranged. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: The basis or position something is on, as in 'on an equal foot' with others.

## Other meanings

- (noun) On a pool or billiard table, the end beyond the foot spot, which is where the rack of balls is set up.
- (noun) The bottom edge of a sail, running horizontally along its lower side.
- (noun) The end of a cigar that is lit, opposite the end held in the mouth.
- (noun) The point at which a line meets another line that is perpendicular to it.
- (verb) To move the feet in time to music; to dance, skip, or trip lightly.
- (noun) In organ building, a unit indicating a stop’s pitch by the approximate length of an equivalent open pipe for its lowest note. Eight-foot stops sound at normal pitch.
- (noun) The part of a bryophyte's sporophyte that remains embedded in and attached to the parent gametophyte.
- (noun) The base of a piece of metal type, forming the sides of the groove along the bottom.
- (noun) The rounded, compact domain at the bottom end of a protein's structure.
- (verb) To walk over or tread upon a place.
- (verb) To start or found something, or to bring someone or something ashore.
- (verb) To repair a sock or stocking by replacing its worn foot section.
- (verb) To stand cut peat sods together in small piles so the air can dry them.

## Origin

From Middle English fot, from Old English fōt, from Proto-West Germanic *fōt and Proto-Germanic *fōts, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pṓds. It is related to Dutch voet and German Fuß. The plural feet comes from i-umlaut, an early Germanic vowel shift set off by an i in the old plural ending, the same change behind teeth and geese.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/foot (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).