hoof

[hoo f, hoof]

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noun, plural hoofs or hooves for 1, 2, 4; hoof for 3.

the horny covering protecting the ends of the digits or encasing the foot in certain animals, as the ox and horse.

the entire foot of a horse, donkey, etc.

Older Use. a hoofed animal, especially one of a herd.

Informal. the human foot.

verb (used with object)

Slang. to walk (often followed by it): Let's hoof it to the supermarket.

verb (used without object)

Slang. to dance, especially to tap-dance: He's been hoofing at the Palladium.

Idioms plural hoof.

on the hoof, (of livestock) not butchered; live: The city youngsters were seeing lambs on the hoof for the first time.

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. 2019

Related Words for hoof

paw, ungulate, frog, tramp, foot, cleft, unguis, cloven, ungula

Examples from the Web for hoof

Contemporary Examples of hoof

What about the elevators—will I have to hoof it up nine flights to get home?
The Scariest Thing About Sandy: Guarding the Water Supply
Kent Sepkowitz
October 30, 2012
By horseback and hoof, Twain takes us from the Mormon Theocracy of Utah to the wide-open craziness in the Sierra mining fields.
Book Bag: Timothy Egan’s Five Favorite Travel Books
Timothy Egan
October 23, 2012
No one I have ever met or witnessed spoke better on the hoof.
Christopher Hitchens Is Hailed by Stephen Fry as a Man of Style and Wit
Stephen Fry
December 17, 2011

Historical Examples of hoof

"Spoils the hoof to put the knife on the sole, Buck," said the smith.
Way of the Lawless
Max Brand
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

the horny covering of the end of the foot in the horse, deer, and all other ungulate mammals
(in combination)a hoofbeat Related adjective: ungular

the foot of an ungulate mammal

a hoofed animal

facetious a person's foot

on the hoof

(of livestock) alive
in an impromptu mannerhe did his thinking on the hoof

verb

(tr) to kick or trample with the hoofs

hoof it slang

to walk
to dance

Derived Formshoofless, adjectivehooflike, adjective

Word Origin for hoof

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

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).

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