Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Foot \Foot\ (f[oo^]t), n.; pl. {Feet} (f[=e]t). [OE. fot, foot,
pl. fet, feet. AS. f[=o]t, pl. f[=e]t; akin to D. voet, OHG.
fuoz, G. fuss, Icel. f[=o]tr, Sw. fot, Dan. fod, Goth.
f[=o]tus, L. pes, Gr. poy`s, Skr. p[=a]d, Icel. fet step,
pace measure of a foot, feta to step, find one's way.
[root]77, 250. Cf. {Antipodes}, {Cap-a-pie}, {Expedient},
{Fet} to fetch, {Fetlock}, {Fetter}, {Pawn} a piece in chess,
{Pedal}.]
1. (Anat.) The terminal part of the leg of man or an animal;
esp., the part below the ankle or wrist; that part of an
animal upon which it rests when standing, or moves. See
{Manus}, and {Pes}.
2. (Zo["o]l.) The muscular locomotive organ of a mollusk. It
is a median organ arising from the ventral region of body,
often in the form of a flat disk, as in snails. See
Illust. of {Buccinum}.
3. That which corresponds to the foot of a man or animal; as,
the foot of a table; the foot of a stocking.
4. The lowest part or base; the ground part; the bottom, as
of a mountain or column; also, the last of a row or
series; the end or extremity, esp. if associated with
inferiority; as, the foot of a hill; the foot of the
procession; the foot of a class; the foot of the bed.
And now at foot Of heaven's ascent they lift their
feet. --Milton.
5. Fundamental principle; basis; plan; -- used only in the
singular.
Answer directly upon the foot of dry reason.
--Berkeley.
6. Recognized condition; rank; footing; -- used only in the
singular. [R.]
As to his being on the foot of a servant. --Walpole.
7. A measure of length equivalent to twelve inches; one third
of a yard. See {Yard}.
Note: This measure is supposed to be taken from the length of
a man's foot. It differs in length in different
countries. In the United States and in England it is
304.8 millimeters.
8. (Mil.) Soldiers who march and fight on foot; the infantry,
usually designated as the foot, in distinction from the
cavalry. ``Both horse and foot.'' --Milton.
9. (Pros.) A combination of syllables consisting a metrical
element of a verse, the syllables being formerly
distinguished by their quantity or length, but in modern
poetry by the accent.
10. (Naut.) The lower edge of a sail.
Note: Foot is often used adjectively, signifying of or
pertaining to a foot or the feet, or to the base or
lower part. It is also much used as the first of
compounds.
{Foot artillery}. (Mil.)
(a) Artillery soldiers serving in foot.
(b) Heavy artillery. --Farrow.
{Foot bank} (Fort.), a raised way within a parapet.
{Foot barracks} (Mil.), barracks for infantery.
{Foot bellows}, a bellows worked by a treadle. --Knight.
{Foot company} (Mil.), a company of infantry. --Milton.
{Foot gear}, covering for the feet, as stocking, shoes, or
boots.
{Foot hammer} (Mach.), a small tilt hammer moved by a
treadle.
{Foot iron}.
(a) The step of a carriage.
(b) A fetter.
{Foot jaw}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Maxilliped}.
{Foot key} (Mus.), an organ pedal.
{Foot level} (Gunnery), a form of level used in giving any
proposed angle of elevation to a piece of ordnance.
--Farrow.
{Foot mantle}, a long garment to protect the dress in riding;
a riding skirt. [Obs.]
{Foot page}, an errand boy; an attendant. [Obs.]
{Foot passenger}, one who passes on foot, as over a road or
bridge.
{Foot pavement}, a paved way for foot passengers; a footway;
a trottoir.
{Foot poet}, an inferior poet; a poetaster. [R.] --Dryden.
{Foot post}.
(a) A letter carrier who travels on foot.
(b) A mail delivery by means of such carriers.
{Fot pound}, & {Foot poundal}. (Mech.) See {Foot pound} and
{Foot poundal}, in the Vocabulary.
{Foot press} (Mach.), a cutting, embossing, or printing
press, moved by a treadle.
{Foot race}, a race run by persons on foot. --Cowper.
{Foot rail}, a railroad rail, with a wide flat flange on the
lower side.
{Foot rot}, an ulcer in the feet of sheep; claw sickness.
{Foot rule}, a rule or measure twelve inches long.
{Foot screw}, an adjusting screw which forms a foot, and
serves to give a machine or table a level standing on an
uneven place.
{Foot secretion}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Sclerobase}.
{Foot soldier}, a soldier who serves on foot.
{Foot stick} (Printing), a beveled piece of furniture placed
against the foot of the page, to hold the type in place.
{Foot stove}, a small box, with an iron pan, to hold hot
coals for warming the feet.
{Foot tubercle}. (Zo["o]l.) See {Parapodium}.
{Foot valve} (Steam Engine), the valve that opens to the air
pump from the condenser.
{Foot vise}, a kind of vise the jaws of which are operated by
a treadle.
{Foot waling} (Naut.), the inside planks or lining of a
vessel over the floor timbers. --Totten.
{Foot wall} (Mining), the under wall of an inclosed vein.
{By foot}, or {On foot}, by walking; as, to pass a stream on
foot.
{Cubic foot}. See under {Cubic}.
{Foot and mouth disease}, a contagious disease (Eczema
epizo["o]tica) of cattle, sheep, swine, etc.,
characterized by the formation of vesicles and ulcers in
the mouth and about the hoofs.
{Foot of the fine} (Law), the concluding portion of an
acknowledgment in court by which, formerly, the title of
land was conveyed. See {Fine of land}, under {Fine}, n.;
also {Chirograph}. (b).
{Square foot}. See under {Square}.
{To be on foot}, to be in motion, action, or process of
execution.
{To keep the foot} (Script.), to preserve decorum. ``Keep thy
foot when thou goest to the house of God.'' --Eccl. v. 1.
{To put one's foot down}, to take a resolute stand; to be
determined. [Colloq.]
{To put the best foot foremost}, to make a good appearance;
to do one's best. [Colloq.]
{To set on foot}, to put in motion; to originate; as, to set
on foot a subscription.
{To} {put, or set}, {one on his feet}, to put one in a
position to go on; to assist to start.
{Under foot}.
(a) Under the feet; (Fig.) at one's mercy; as, to trample
under foot. --Gibbon.
(b) Below par. [Obs.] ``They would be forced to sell . .
. far under foot.'' --Bacon.
Foot \Foot\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Footed}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Footing}.]
1. To tread to measure or music; to dance; to trip; to skip.
--Dryden.
2. To walk; -- opposed to ride or fly. --Shak.
Foot \Foot\, v. t.
1. To kick with the foot; to spurn. --Shak.
2. To set on foot; to establish; to land. [Obs.]
What confederacy have you with the traitors Late
footed in the kingdom? --Shak.
3. To tread; as, to foot the green. --Tickell.
4. To sum up, as the numbers in a column; -- sometimes with
up; as, to foot (or foot up) an account.
5. The size or strike with the talon. [Poet.] --Shak.
6. To renew the foot of, as of stocking. --Shak.
{To foot a bill}, to pay it. [Colloq.] -- {To foot it}, to
walk; also, to dance.
Source : WordNet®
foot
n 1: a linear unit of length equal to 12 inches or a third of a
yard; "he is six feet tall" [syn: {ft}]
2: the foot of a human being; "his bare feet projected from his
trousers"; "armored from head to foot" [syn: {human foot},
{pes}]
3: the lower part of anything; "curled up on the foot of the
bed"; "the foot of the page"; "the foot of the list"; "the
foot of the mountain" [ant: {head}]
4: travel by foot; "he followed on foot"; "the swiftest of
foot"
5: a foot of a vertebrate other than a human being [syn: {animal
foot}]
6: a support resembling a pedal extremity; "one foot of the
chair was on the carpet"
7: lowest support of a structure; "it was built on a base of
solid rock"; "he stood at the foot of the tower" [syn: {foundation},
{base}, {fundament}, {groundwork}, {substructure}, {understructure}]
8: any of various organs of locomotion or attachment in
invertebrates [syn: {invertebrate foot}]
9: an army unit consisting of soldiers who fight on foot;
"there came ten thousand horsemen and as many fully-armed
foot" [syn: {infantry}]
10: a member of a surveillance team who works on foot or rides
as a passenger
11: a group of 2 or 3 syllables forming the basic unit of poetic
rhythm [syn: {metrical foot}, {metrical unit}]
[also: {feet} (pl)]
foot
v 1: pay for something; "pick up the tab"; "pick up the burden of
high-interest mortgages"; "foot the bill" [syn: {pick}]
2: walk; "let's hoof it to the disco" [syn: {leg it}, {hoof}, {hoof
it}]
3: add a column of numbers [syn: {foot up}]
[also: {feet} (pl)]