shoe
Pluralshoes
Pluralshoes
- 1A covering you wear on your foot that does not go higher than the ankle.
Like a glove made for your foot.
She tied her shoe before the race started.
My new shoes are too tight around the toes.
UsageSay a pair of shoes, and put on your shoes.
- 2A curved piece of metal nailed to a horse's foot to protect it.
Like a tough sole on the bottom of a horse's foot.
The horse lost a shoe on the rocky trail.
Each metal shoe is shaped to fit the hoof.
UsageOutside a stable, say horseshoe.
Similarhorseshoe
- 3To put shoes on a person or an animal, especially metal shoes on a horse.
Like putting boots on a child before they go outside.
The blacksmith will shoe the horse tomorrow.
They shoe their ponies every spring.
UsagePast: shod or shoed. Spell shoeing with an e.
Note
- 4A part shaped or placed like footwear that does a similar job, such as a brake shoe.
Like a protective cap that fits over the end of something.
The mechanic replaced a brake shoe on my old car.
Engineers fitted a rubber shoe to the bottom of each support leg.
Note
Less common meanings
- 5A box that holds several decks of cards so the dealer can deal more hands between shuffles.
Like a holder that feeds out cards one at a time.
The dealer pulled the next card from the shoe.
A full shoe can hold six decks at once.
Note
- 6The part of an electric train that touches a rail or wire to pick up power.
Like a finger sliding along a wire to soak up electricity.
The train's shoe slid along the third rail and drew power.
Sparks flew where the shoe touched the electric rail.
- 7A tire on a car or other vehicle, especially its outer rubber part.
Like the rubber skin that wraps around a wheel.
My car needs new shoes before winter comes.
The mechanic said the front shoe on the left side was almost bald.
Similartire
- 8A strip of iron, steel, or wood fixed to the bottom of a sleigh's runner where it slides on snow.
Like the smooth metal edge on an ice skate that slides over the ice.
The old sled has an iron shoe on each runner.
A metal shoe on the runner helped the sleigh slide over the snow.
- 9A block of wood or iron put under a wheel to slow a heavy cart going downhill.
Like dragging your foot on the ground to slow a bike going downhill.
The driver put a shoe under the wheel to slow the cart down the hill.
Old carts carried an iron shoe on a chain for steep roads.
Similarskid
- 10A metal plate placed between a moving part and the still part it rests on, to take the wear.
Like a doormat that wears out so your floor stays clean.
A metal shoe takes the wear so the sliding table stays smooth.
A new shoe stops the moving part from wearing out the frame.
Note
- 11A metal cap or socket fixed to the end of a wooden beam or post to hold or protect it.
Like a cup that holds the bottom of a pole so it can't slip.
An iron shoe holds the end of the rafter in place.
They bolted a metal shoe to take the push from the wooden strut.
Similarsocket
- 12To put a protective layer over something.
- 13A fake or forged passport used to travel under a false identity.
- 14A curved spout at the bottom of a downspout that throws rainwater away from a building.
- 15A sloping channel in a mill that carries grain or rock down to the parts that grind or crush it.
- 16A lump of gold or silver shaped like an old Chinese shoe, once used as money in the Far East.
The finest gold among them is 100 touch, called Sycee, i. e. pure gold without alloy: so that if a shoe of gold touch 93, then it hath 93 parts of fine gold and 7 parts alloy.
1806, Lawrence Dundas Campbell, E. SamuelHere, shoe means a lump of gold shaped like a shoe, used as money.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
This word comes from Old English "scoh," meaning shoe. Its older Germanic roots are unclear.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Shoe descends from Old English scoh, meaning shoe. en.wiktionary.org
- The ultimate origin of its Germanic ancestor is uncertain. en.wiktionary.org