hoof
Americannoun
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hoofs,
plural
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hooves,
plural
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hoof
plural
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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:
They could play to keep the score down, pack the midfield, hoof everything downfield and never venture a shot on Brazil's goal and still make it through.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 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
He’d lost his tail and a front hoof in the fire.
From "Willodeen" by Katherine Applegate
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
A few days later, he heard tiny hoofs ambling around and noticed a tail swishing in the distance.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 27, 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
The fall of the hoofs sounded loud in the still, foggy air.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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
That sound of hooves isn't retreating reindeer, but advancing Red Bulls.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2025
Best among them is the picture of a woman who tugs on a goat’s hooves, the animal largely out of frame, struggling against its weight as she grips a blade between her teeth.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
Cloven hooves had pressed into the soft mud.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 10, 2025
“It is hooves, at a gallop. Someone is coming, and quick! Everyone, hide!”
From "The Interrupted Tale" 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.
