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hoof

[hoo f, hoof]
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noun, plural hoofs or hooves for 1, 2, 4; hoof for 3.
  1. the horny covering protecting the ends of the digits or encasing the foot in certain animals, as the ox and horse.
  2. the entire foot of a horse, donkey, etc.
  3. Older Use. a hoofed animal, especially one of a herd.
  4. Informal. the human foot.
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verb (used with object)
  1. Slang. to walk (often followed by it): Let's hoof it to the supermarket.
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verb (used without object)
  1. Slang. to dance, especially to tap-dance: He's been hoofing at the Palladium.
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Idioms plural hoof.
  1. on the hoof, (of livestock) not butchered; live: The city youngsters were seeing lambs on the hoof for the first time.
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Origin of hoof

before 1000; Middle English (noun); Old English hōf; cognate with Old Frisian hōf, Dutch hoef, German Huf, Old Norse hōfr; compare Sanskrit śaphas
Related formshoof·i·ness, nounhoof·less, adjectivehoof·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for hoof

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • "Spoils the hoof to put the knife on the sole, Buck," said the smith.

  • Some of ye fellows is pretty careless wit' hoof grease, I'm thinkin'.

    Thoroughbreds

    W. A. Fraser

  • He had got for himself a hoof and part of the shin-bone, to which quite a bit of meat was attached.

    White Fang

    Jack London

  • His horns are thick, short, and black; and his hoof is also black.

    The History of Louisiana

    Le Page Du Pratz

  • And the knock was produced by Mukhorty, who had twice struck the sledge with his hoof.

    Master and Man

    Leo Tolstoy

British Dictionary definitions for hoof

hoof

noun plural hooves (huːvz) or hoofs
    1. the horny covering of the end of the foot in the horse, deer, and all other ungulate mammals
    2. (in combination)a hoofbeat Related adjective: ungular
  2. the foot of an ungulate mammal
  3. a hoofed animal
  4. facetious a person's foot
  5. on the hoof
    1. (of livestock) alive
    2. in an impromptu mannerhe did his thinking on the hoof
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verb
  1. (tr) to kick or trample with the hoofs
  2. hoof it slang
    1. to walk
    2. to dance
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Derived Formshoofless, adjectivehooflike, adjective

Word Origin

Old English hōf; related to Old Norse hōfr, Old High German huof (German Huf), Sanskrit saphás
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

Word Origin and History for hoof

n.

Old English hof "hoof," from Proto-Germanic *hofaz (cf. Old Saxon, Old Frisian hof, Old Norse hofr, Danish hov, Dutch hoef, German Huf "hof"), from PIE *kop- "to beat, strike" (cf. Sanskrit saphah "hoof"). For spelling, see hood (n.1).

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v.

"to walk" (hoof it), first attested 1640s, from hoof (n.); slang meaning "to dance" is 1920, American English (implied in hoofer). Related: Hoofed; hoofing.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper