hoof
Americannoun
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the horny covering protecting the ends of the digits or encasing the foot in certain animals, as the ox and horse.
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the entire foot of a horse, donkey, etc.
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Older Use. a hoofed animal, especially one of a herd.
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Informal. the human foot.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
idioms
noun
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the horny covering of the end of the foot in the horse, deer, and all other ungulate mammals
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( in combination )
a hoofbeat
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the foot of an ungulate mammal
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a hoofed animal
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facetious a person's foot
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(of livestock) alive
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in an impromptu manner
he did his thinking on the hoof
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verb
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(tr) to kick or trample with the hoofs
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slang
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to walk
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to dance
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of hoof
First recorded before 1000; Middle English (noun); Old English hōf; cognate with Old Frisian hōf, Dutch hoef, German Huf, Old Norse hōfr; compare Sanskrit śaphas
Explanation
A foot is to a human what a hoof is to a horse, a goat, or a giraffe. Each hoof protects the animal and helps it to walk and run. A hoof is made of keratin, just like your fingernails, but it tends to be thicker and harder since it has to bear the weight of the animal. Hoof can also be a verb that, surprisingly enough, applies to humans. Maybe you have offered someone a ride, only to be told, "No, I think I'll just hoof it," meaning walk or otherwise go on foot. Hoof is sometimes substituted for dance if the person doing it is getting paid.
Vocabulary lists containing hoof
Horsin' Around
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Snapdragon
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The gruelling French farm tracks with their jagged cobblestones seem barely fit for a cow's hoof, let alone a Lycra-clad cyclists' thin tyre and ultra-light bike.
From BBC ● Apr. 13, 2026
Foot-and-mouth causes fever and blisters near the hoof and in the mouth that prevent animals from feeding, as seen in the emaciated survivors.
From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026
Black cars filled with political leaders and CEOs who didn’t want to hoof it on foot clogged up the town’s two-lane main streets, where the typical year-round population is around 11,000.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
The tips of each of the three hind toes were enclosed in a wedge-shaped hoof with a flat underside, similar to that of a horse.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 30, 2025
Before he put the pony in the trailer, Nancy showed him the paint marking on Buttons's hoof.
From "Pony Problems: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #3" by Carolyn Keene
She knows she can nail this role and she really hoofs it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2025
“There are scenes with galloping horses in the film, and the sound of the hoofs will match the rhythm of the music,” he says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2024
The dairy cows also showed behavioral changes — yawning and salivating a lot, moving a little unsteadily on their hoofs, standing in one place for a protracted period, and having a “somnolent appearance.”
From Washington Post ● Nov. 14, 2022
They’ve already had a decent penalty appeal turned down and now they had a free-kick right on the edge of the D. Tom Lawrence hoofs it straight into the wall.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 19, 2022
Sometimes in the night the ranch people, safe in their beds, heard a roar of hoofs go by.
From "The Red Pony" by John Steinbeck
The horses are characterised by their "large size, long legs, well-developed musculature, slender and elegant head -- set on a long, straight neck -- expressive eyes, high withers and sturdy hooves," he added.
From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026
In Colorado, Kimberly Jones has grown her herd of goats from 25 to 250 in seven years, deploying their efficient teeth, hooves and stomachs to clear undergrowth to stem the spread of flames.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2026
The list of wonders begins with the Quiet Storm: the handbuilt 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8, summoning 577 ghostly horses with soft-soled trainers on their hooves, galloping across the countryside and destroying driving records.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026
If the clomping hooves from the first horseman’s approaching steed got too loud, we’d just turn the music up.
From Salon ● Dec. 21, 2025
The clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop of hooves grew louder by the second.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
