first-foot

[ furst-foot ]

nounAlso first-footer.
  1. the first person to cross the threshold of a house on New Year's Day.

  2. the first person met after starting out on the day of an important occasion.

verb (used with object)
  1. to enter (a house) first on New Year's Day.

verb (used without object)
  1. to be the first to enter a house on New Year's Day.

Origin of first-foot

1
First recorded in 1880–85

Words Nearby first-foot

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use first-foot in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for first-foot

first-foot

/ mainly Scot /


nounAlso: first-footer
  1. the first person to enter a household in the New Year. By Hogmanay tradition a dark-haired man who crosses the threshold at midnight brings good luck

verb
  1. to enter (a house) as first-foot

Derived forms of first-foot

  • first-footing, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012