Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The horny sheath covering the toes or lower part of the foot of a mammal of the orders Perissodactyla and Artiodactyla, such as a horse, ox, or deer.
- noun The foot of such an animal, especially a horse.
- noun Slang The human foot.
- intransitive verb To trample with the hooves.
- intransitive verb To dance, especially as a professional.
- intransitive verb To go on foot; walk.
- idiom (hoof it) To walk.
- idiom (hoof it) To dance.
- idiom (on the hoof) Not yet butchered; alive. Used especially of cattle.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To walk, as cattle; foot: with an indefinite it.
- To kill (game) by shooting it on the ground.
- noun The casing of hard horny substance which sheathes the ends of the digits or incases the foot in many animals.
- noun A hoofed animal; a beast.
- noun In geometry, an ungula or part of a cylinder or cone cut off by a plane cutting both the base and the curved surface.
- noun In tortoise-shell manuf., one of the smaller plates of translucent shell forming the head.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The horny substance or case that covers or terminates the feet of certain animals, as horses, oxen, etc.
- noun A hoofed animal; a beast.
- noun (Geom.) See
Ungula . - intransitive verb rare To walk as cattle.
- intransitive verb Slang, U.S. To be on a tramp; to foot.
- intransitive verb to foot it.
- intransitive verb of cattle, standing (on the hoof); not slaughtered.
- intransitive verb live cattle.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The
tip of atoe of anungulate such as ahorse ,ox ordeer , strengthened by a thickkeratin covering. - noun slang The
human foot . - verb To
trample with hooves. - verb colloquial To
walk . - verb informal To
dance , especially as aprofessional . - verb colloquial, soccer, transitive to kick, especially to kick the football a long way
downfield with little accuracy.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb dance in a professional capacity
- noun the horny covering of the end of the foot in ungulate mammals
- verb walk
- noun the foot of an ungulate mammal
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Cloven hoof is what it is and maybe the clove is the evolution of claws.
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And I thought about how "a horse's hoof is more delicate than it seems" and I am achingly delicate and fantastically strong.
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And I thought about how "a horse's hoof is more delicate than it seems" and I am achingly delicate and fantastically strong.
Dru Blood - I believe in the inherent goodness of all beings: January 2006 Archives 2006
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And in the higher schools the cloven hoof is seen even more clearly.
Militarism versus Feminism: An Enquiry and a Policy Demonstrating that Militarism involves the Subjection of Women Charles Kay 1915
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Among his academic peers, Daniel Lieberman, 47, is known as a "hoof and mouth" man.
NYT > Home Page By CLAUDIA DREIFUS 2011
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Another time we used an elk hoof from a prior hunt and made "scrapes" in front of a guy's stand - later when we asked him if he ever saw any "signs", he clammed up and said he saw nothing!)
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And need I point out that a pony’s hoof is just about the perfect implement for crushing fragile crockery?
The Volokh Conspiracy » Bloggers agree: Little chance for immigration bill, and they hate the VAT 2010
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Foot In Mouth or Hoof In Mouth….cloven hoof, that is…
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I rummaged through an old tack box and pulled out a tool called a hoof tester.
The Last Chance Dog D.V.M. Donna Kelleher 2003
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I rummaged through an old tack box and pulled out a tool called a hoof tester.
The Last Chance Dog D.V.M. Donna Kelleher 2003
whichbe commented on the word hoof
The underside of a horse's hoof is called a frog. The frog peels off several times a year with new growth.
May 7, 2008
dontcry commented on the word hoof
Yea-uh! I own a horse and I can tell you that I spend 100% more on HER manicures than I do on my own... and that hurts a little...
May 7, 2008
bilby commented on the word hoof
Comparisons between self and equine quadruped are probably dangerous territory, dc ;-)
May 7, 2008