Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A highwayman who robs on foot; specifically, one of a large class, existing in Europe when police authority was still in an ineffective condition, who made a business of robbing people passing on horseback or in carriages.
  • noun A pad fitted over the sole of a horse's foot to prevent balling in snow.
  • noun An anklet of leather strapped on a horse's foot to prevent interfering; a boot.
  • noun In entomology, a cushion-like expansion on the lower surface of the tarsal joints: applied especially to the onychium, or membranous cushion between the tarsal claws. Also called foot-cushion and pulvillus. See cut under flesh-fly.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A highwayman or robber on foot.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The soft underside of an animal's paw.
  • noun medicine A medicated bandage for the treatment of corns and warts.
  • noun archaic A thief on foot who robs travellers on the road.
  • noun Australia (also "foot pad") An unmade, minor walking trail formed only by foot traffic.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a highwayman who robs on foot

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word footpad.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • an excellent word, andrew.simone. thank you. :)

    December 10, 2006

  • a highwayman who robs on foot

    February 2, 2007

  • I always thought this word comes from the fact that a footpad is capable of moving softly on his feet, to sneak up on his victim.

    February 3, 2007

  • "The fact that he was stopped by a footpad smote Tom Swift's mind as not a particularly surprising adventure. He had heard that several of that gentry had been plying their trade about the outskirts of the town."

    - Victor Appleton, 'Tom Swift And His Electric Locomotive'.

    August 28, 2009