FOOT (feet)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: feet   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does foot mean? 

• FOOT (noun)
  The noun FOOT has 11 senses:

1. the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint

2. a linear unit of length equal to 12 inches or a third of a yard

3. the lower part of anything

4. the pedal extremity of vertebrates other than human beings

5. lowest support of a structure

6. any of various organs of locomotion or attachment in invertebrates

7. travel by walking

8. a member of a surveillance team who works on foot or rides as a passenger

9. an army unit consisting of soldiers who fight on foot

10. (prosody) a group of 2 or 3 syllables forming the basic unit of poetic rhythm

11. a support resembling a pedal extremity

  Familiarity information: FOOT used as a noun is familiar.

• FOOT (verb)
  The verb FOOT has 3 senses:

1. pay for something

2. walk

3. add a column of numbers

  Familiarity information: FOOT used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FOOT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

foot; human foot; pes

Context example:

armored from head to foot

Hypernyms ("foot" is a kind of...):

pedal extremity; vertebrate foot (the extremity of the limb in vertebrates)

Meronyms (parts of "foot"):

sole (the underside of the foot)

arcuate artery; arteria arcuata (curved artery in the foot)

heel (the back part of the human foot)

little toe (the fifth smallest outermost toe)

big toe; great toe; hallux (the first largest innermost toe)

toe (one of the digits of the foot)

instep (the arch of the foot)

calcaneus; heelbone; os tarsi fibulare (the largest tarsal bone; forms the human heel)

metatarsal vein; vena metatarsus (dorsal and plantar branches of veins serving the metatarsal region of the foot)

intercapitular vein; vena intercapitalis (veins connecting the dorsal and palmar veins of the hand or the dorsal and plantar veins of the foot)

arteria metatarsea; metatarsal artery (dorsal and plantar arteries to the metatarsal region of the foot)

arteria digitalis; digital arteries (arteries in the hand and foot that supply the fingers and toes)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "foot"):

flatfoot; pes planus; splayfoot (a foot afflicted with a fallen arch; abnormally flattened and spread out)

Holonyms ("foot" is a part of...):

homo; human; human being; man (any living or extinct member of the family Hominidae characterized by superior intelligence, articulate speech, and erect carriage)

leg (a human limb; commonly used to refer to a whole limb but technically only the part of the limb between the knee and ankle)

Derivation:

foot (walk)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A linear unit of length equal to 12 inches or a third of a yard

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

foot; ft

Context example:

he is six feet tall

Hypernyms ("foot" is a kind of...):

linear measure; linear unit (a unit of measurement of length)

Meronyms (parts of "foot"):

in; inch (a unit of length equal to one twelfth of a foot)

Holonyms ("foot" is a part of...):

pace; yard (a unit of length equal to 3 feet; defined as 91.44 centimeters; originally taken to be the average length of a stride)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The lower part of anything

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Context example:

the foot of the mountain

Hypernyms ("foot" is a kind of...):

bottom (the lowest part of anything)

Antonym:

head (the top of something)

Sense 4

Meaning:

The pedal extremity of vertebrates other than human beings

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

animal foot; foot

Hypernyms ("foot" is a kind of...):

pedal extremity; vertebrate foot (the extremity of the limb in vertebrates)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "foot"):

hoof (the foot of an ungulate mammal)

bird's foot (the foot of a bird)

webfoot (a foot having the toes connected by folds of skin)

trotter (foot of a pig or sheep especially one used as food)

forefoot (a front foot of a quadruped)

hindfoot (a rear foot of a quadruped)

paw (a clawed foot of an animal especially a quadruped)

fossorial foot (foot adapted for digging as in moles)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Lowest support of a structure

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

base; foot; foundation; fundament; groundwork; substructure; understructure

Context example:

he stood at the foot of the tower

Hypernyms ("foot" is a kind of...):

support (supporting structure that holds up or provides a foundation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "foot"):

bed (a foundation of earth or rock supporting a road or railroad track)

mat; raft; raft foundation (a foundation (usually on soft ground) consisting of an extended layer of reinforced concrete)

Holonyms ("foot" is a part of...):

construction; structure (a thing constructed; a complex entity constructed of many parts)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Any of various organs of locomotion or attachment in invertebrates

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

foot; invertebrate foot

Hypernyms ("foot" is a kind of...):

organ (a fully differentiated structural and functional unit in an animal that is specialized for some particular function)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "foot"):

tube foot (tentacular tubular process of most echinoderms (starfish and sea urchins and holothurians) having a sucker at the end and used for e.g. locomotion and respiration)

Holonyms ("foot" is a part of...):

invertebrate (any animal lacking a backbone or notochord; the term is not used as a scientific classification)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Travel by walking

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

the swiftest of foot

Hypernyms ("foot" is a kind of...):

walk (the act of walking somewhere)

Derivation:

foot (walk)

Sense 8

Meaning:

A member of a surveillance team who works on foot or rides as a passenger

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("foot" is a kind of...):

intelligence agent; intelligence officer; operative; secret agent (a person secretly employed in espionage for a government)

Sense 9

Meaning:

An army unit consisting of soldiers who fight on foot

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Synonyms:

foot; infantry

Context example:

there came ten thousand horsemen and as many fully-armed foot

Hypernyms ("foot" is a kind of...):

army unit (a military unit that is part of an army)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "foot"):

paratroops (infantry trained and equipped to parachute)

Sense 10

Meaning:

(prosody) a group of 2 or 3 syllables forming the basic unit of poetic rhythm

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

foot; metrical foot; metrical unit

Hypernyms ("foot" is a kind of...):

beat; cadence; measure; meter; metre ((prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse)

Domain category:

metrics; prosody (the study of poetic meter and the art of versification)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "foot"):

dactyl (a metrical unit with stressed-unstressed-unstressed syllables)

iamb; iambus (a metrical unit with unstressed-stressed syllables)

anapaest; anapest (a metrical unit with unstressed-unstressed-stressed syllables)

amphibrach (a metrical unit with unstressed-stressed-unstressed syllables (e.g., 'remember'))

trochee (a metrical unit with stressed-unstressed syllables)

spondee (a metrical unit with stressed-stressed syllables)

dibrach; pyrrhic (a metrical unit with unstressed-unstressed syllables)

Sense 11

Meaning:

A support resembling a pedal extremity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

one foot of the chair was on the carpet

Hypernyms ("foot" is a kind of...):

support (any device that bears the weight of another thing)

Holonyms ("foot" is a part of...):

leg (a cloth covering consisting of the part of a pair of trousers that covers a person's leg)

• FOOT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they foot    ... he / she / it foots   
Past simple: footed   
Past participle: footed   
-ing form: footing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Pay for something

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

foot; pick

Context example:

foot the bill

Hypernyms (to "foot" is one way to...):

pay (give money, usually in exchange for goods or services)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Walk

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

foot; hoof; hoof it; leg it

Context example:

let's hoof it to the disco

Hypernyms (to "foot" is one way to...):

walk (use one's feet to advance; advance by steps)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

foot (travel by walking)

foot (the part of the leg of a human being below the ankle joint)

footer (a person who travels by foot)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Add a column of numbers

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

foot; foot up

Hypernyms (to "foot" is one way to...):

add; add together (make an addition by combining numbers)

Domain category:

arithmetic (the branch of pure mathematics dealing with the theory of numerical calculations)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The next morning he and I set out on foot for the Admiral Benbow, and there I found my mother in good health and spirits.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

"Oh! You drive me mad!" She sprang to her feet, wringing her hands in impotent wrath. "You never used to be this way."

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

But I struggled upward, and at last I reached a ledge several feet deep and covered with soft green moss, where I could lie unseen, in the most perfect comfort.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The mate, Johansen, stood away several feet to the side of him, and fully three yards in front of him sat Wolf Larsen on one of the pivotal cabin chairs.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Now I can hear the heavy feet tramping again along the hall, with many other idle feet coming behind them.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Once out of the harness and down, he did not get on his feet again till harness-up time in the morning.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

A condyloid synovial joint within the fourth digit of the foot connecting metatarsal with the proximal phalanx.

(Metatarsophalangeal Joint 4, NCI Thesaurus)

A condyloid synovial joint within the third digit of the foot connecting metatarsal with the proximal phalanx.

(Metatarsophalangeal Joint 3, NCI Thesaurus)

Of course they took pains not to light on his head and get the pins in their feet.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)