Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A waterproof overshoe.
  • noun Obsolete A sturdy heavy-soled boot or shoe.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To protect with a partial covering, edging, or the like of strong or water-proof material, as a shoe.
  • noun A kind of clog or patten worn in the middle ages as a protection against wet, and common, because of the practice of making shoes of cloth, silk, or the like, or of ornamental leather.
  • noun In present use, any overshoe; a rubber: usually in the plural.

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

  • noun Same as galoche, galoshe.
  • noun A strip of material, as leather, running around a shoe at and above the sole, as for protection or ornament.

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

  • noun UK A waterproof overshoe used to provide protection from rain or snow.
  • noun US A waterproof rubber boot, intended to be worn in wet or muddy conditions.

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

  • noun a waterproof overshoe that protects shoes from water or snow

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English galoche, wooden-soled shoe, from Old French, of unknown origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English galoche, from Old French galoche ("shoe with a wooden sole"), but further uncertain; three main theories exist:

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  • Calvin and Hobbes for the win.

    January 12, 2007