HOOF (hooves)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: hooves   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does hoof mean? 

• HOOF (noun)
  The noun HOOF has 2 senses:

1. the foot of an ungulate mammal

2. the horny covering of the end of the foot in ungulate mammals

  Familiarity information: HOOF used as a noun is rare.

• HOOF (verb)
  The verb HOOF has 2 senses:

1. walk

2. dance in a professional capacity

  Familiarity information: HOOF used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• HOOF (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The foot of an ungulate mammal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

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

animal foot; foot (the pedal extremity of vertebrates other than human beings)

Meronyms (parts of "hoof"):

hoof (the horny covering of the end of the foot in ungulate mammals)

toe (forepart of a hoof)

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

cloven foot; cloven hoof (a hoof divided into two parts at its distal extremity (as of ruminants or swine))

horse's foot (the hoof of a horse)

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

hoofed mammal; ungulate (any of a number of mammals with hooves that are superficially similar but not necessarily closely related taxonomically)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The horny covering of the end of the foot in ungulate mammals

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

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

horny structure; unguis (any rigid body structure composed primarily of keratin)

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

hoof (the foot of an ungulate mammal)

• HOOF (verb)

Sense 1

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 "hoof" 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

Sentence example:

The children hoof to the playground

Sense 2

Meaning:

Dance in a professional capacity

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

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

dance; trip the light fantastic; trip the light fantastic toe (move in a pattern; usually to musical accompaniment; do or perform a dance)

Domain category:

dance (an artistic form of nonverbal communication)

Domain usage:

argot; cant; jargon; lingo; patois; slang; vernacular (a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

hoofer (a professional dancer)

 Context examples 

But we must on, for I can scarce hear their hoofs upon the road.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He ripped them open or split their skulls with shrewdly driven blows of his great hoofs.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Down went Pew with a cry that rang high into the night; and the four hoofs trampled and spurned him and passed by.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

That stupid horse, with his heavy hoofs, has been treading down my people without mercy!

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Here, once again, was the mark of the bicycle, though nearly obliterated by the hoofs of cows.

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

The Houyhnhnms use the hollow part, between the pastern and the hoof of their fore-foot, as we do our hands, and this with greater dexterity than I could at first imagine.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

I was shaving at my window in the morning when I heard the rattle of hoofs and, looking up, saw a dog-cart coming at a gallop down the road.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The bull snorted and leaped away, his hoofs rattling and clattering as he fled across the ledges.

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

The sun sank slowly towards the low Surrey hills, and the shadows crept steadily eastwards, but the whirr of the wheels and the roar of the hoofs never slackened.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The sheep and lambs are bleating in the fields away behind me, and there is a clatter of a donkey's hoofs up the paved road below.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)