shoe
Americannoun
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shoes,
plural
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shoon
plural (especially British Dialect)
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an external covering for the human foot, usually of leather and consisting of a more or less stiff or heavy sole and a lighter upper part ending a short distance above, at, or below the ankle.
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an object or part resembling a shoe in form, position, or use.
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a horseshoe or a similar plate for the hoof of some other animal.
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a ferrule or the like, as of iron, for protecting the end of a staff, pole, etc.
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the outer casing of a pneumatic automobile tire.
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a drag or skid for a wheel of a vehicle.
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a part having a larger area than the end of an object on which it fits, serving to disperse or apply its weight or thrust.
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the sliding contact by which an electric car or locomotive takes its current from the third rail.
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Civil Engineering.
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a member supporting one end of a truss or girder in a bridge.
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a hard and sharp foot of a pile or caisson for piercing underlying soil.
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a small molding, as a quarter round, closing the angle between a baseboard and a floor.
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the outwardly curved portion at the base of a downspout.
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a piece of iron or stone, sunk into the ground, against which the leaves of a gateway are shut.
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a device on a camera that permits an accessory, as a flashgun, to be attached.
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a band of iron on the bottom of the runner of a sleigh.
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Cards. dealing box.
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Furniture.
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a cuplike metal piece for protecting the bottom of a leg.
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a fillet beneath an ornamental foot, as a pad or scroll foot.
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Printing. a box into which unusable type is thrown.
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a chute conveying grain to be ground into flour.
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Carpentry. soleplate.
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Nautical. a thickness of planking covering the bottom of the keel of a wooden vessel to protect it against rubbing.
verb (used with object)
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shoes,
present (3rd person singular)
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shod,
past participle, past
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shoed,
past participle, past
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shodden,
past participle (Archaic)
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shoeing
present participle
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to provide or fit with a shoe or shoes.
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to protect or arm at the point, edge, or face with a ferrule, metal plate, or the like.
idioms
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fill someone's shoes, to take the place and assume the obligations of another person.
She felt that no stepmother could ever hope to fill her late mother's shoes.
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the shoe is on the other foot, the circumstances are reversed; a change of places has occurred.
Now that we are rich and they are poor the shoe is on the other foot.
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where the shoe pinches, the true cause of the trouble or worry.
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drop the other shoe, to complete an action or enterprise already begun.
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in someone's shoes, in a position or situation similar to that of another.
I wouldn't like to be in his shoes.
noun
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one of a matching pair of coverings shaped to fit the foot, esp one ending below the ankle, having an upper of leather, plastic, etc, on a sole and heel of heavier leather, rubber, or synthetic material
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( as modifier )
shoe cleaner
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anything resembling a shoe in shape, function, position, etc, such as a horseshoe
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a band of metal or wood on the bottom of the runner of a sledge
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(in baccarat, etc) a boxlike device for holding several packs of cards and allowing the cards to be dispensed singly
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a base for the supports of a superstructure of a bridge, roof, etc
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a metal collector attached to an electric train that slides along the third rail and picks up power for the motor
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engineering a lining to protect from and withstand wear See brake shoe pile shoe
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informal to be in another person's situation
verb
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to furnish with shoes
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to fit (a horse) with horseshoes
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to furnish with a hard cover, such as a metal plate, for protection against friction or bruising
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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shoesimple
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shoessimple
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have shodperfect
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have shoddenperfect
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have shoedperfect
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has shodperfect
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has shoddenperfect
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has shoedperfect
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am shoeingprogressive
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are shoeingprogressive
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is shoeingprogressive
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have been shoeingperfect progressive
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has been shoeingperfect progressive
Past
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shodsimple
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shoedsimple
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had shodperfect
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had shoddenperfect
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had shoedperfect
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was shoeingprogressive
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were shoeingprogressive
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had been shoeingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of shoe
First recorded before 900; (noun) Middle English scho(o), Old English sceō(h), cognate with German Schuh, Old Norse skōr, Gothic skōhs; (verb) Middle English schon, Old English scōg(e)an, cognate with Middle Low German schoi(g)en, Old Norse skūa
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:
His father, Francisco, worked in a shoe factory and later as an antiques dealer.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
Taraneh, like several defendants in the case, worked in a shoe shop on Shohada Square.
From Barron's ● Sep. 17, 2026
And Deckers Outdoor reported in July that sales growth across its Hoka shoe brand moderated during its latest quarter, coming in at 7.7% compared with recent double-digit gains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
The 1959 image features his father, a shoe repairman, in a wooden chair reading the Spanish-language newspaper La Opinión, while his side profile casts a shadow on a vintage console to his side.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
Sixteen eyelets, four on each side of each shoe.
From "A Boy Called Bat" by Elana K. Arnold
He also took notice of the items being put on sale — from clothing to shoes, to home goods like bedding.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026
Are brands happy about consumers’ reorientation toward shoes, to keep them in the family even if they can’t afford the handbags?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Its flagship shop, called The Warehouse, is a large unit on an industrial estate with a retail space out front, selling furniture, electrical goods, homeware and toys, as well as racks of clothing and shoes.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Luxury handbag prices have gotten so high that shoppers are turning to high-status shoes instead, Chavie Lieber reports for The Wall Street Journal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
The shadows from their leaves flickered on the walls, and the metal hose of the sprayer head on its stand glinted near my shoes.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
A typical stanza: Tell me by what art thou bindest On thy feet those ancient shoon: Tell me, Grinder, if thou grindest Always, always out of tune.
From Time Magazine Archive
I hadna pu'd a flower but ane, When by there came a gallant hende, Wi' high-coll'd hose and laigh-coll'd shoon, And he seem'd to be sum kingis son.
From English and Scottish Ballads, Volume I (of 8) by Various
"These shoon cannot be made for siller," said the old man solemnly.
From The Scottish Fairy Book by Elizabeth Wilson Grierson
It is not denied that this ballad has suffered, like others, by corruption and interpolations, and it is not, therefore, maintained that hats and cork-heeld shoon are of the 13th century.
From English and Scottish Ballads (volume 3 of 8) by Various
"But where will I get a pretty little boy, That will win hose and shoon; That will go quickly to Strawberry Castle, And bid my lord come doun?"
From English and Scottish Ballads, Volume II (of 8) by Various
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Trump is so smitten with his Florsheim dress shoes that he shod his whole Cabinet in the same footwear.
From Slate ● Mar. 14, 2026
Dsquared2 also presented for autumn-winter 2026-27 an army of holidaymakers shod in provocative footwear.
From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 2026
But when he faces down a more traditionally shod and tailored adversary, Boy Kavalier unleashes his dogs as negotiating weapons.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2025
“Try finding a suitable space in a Range Rover or Jeep Wagoneer for an 8-inch by 22-inch rim shod with a cross-country tire,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2023
Svetlana was given enough chores to occupy a regiment, from polishing all the family’s boots to making sure the horses that would pull the troika were properly shod.
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
Only 18 people shoed up for a debate we hosted, and we had received only seven letters.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 23, 2020
“You got up in the morning, you tended to your horses, you cleaned the hooves out, shoed them and fed them,” Elliott said.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 10, 2016
She hates heels, feels like a shoed horse in them.
From Salon ● Nov. 23, 2012
John rubbed all eight horses, galloped them, even shoed them.
From Time Magazine Archive
Smiths straightened swords, knocked dents from breastplates, and shoed destriers and pack mules alike.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
"Black fellow," I said to myself; but no, those were shodden feet that swept along so wearily.
From Recollections of Geoffrey Hamlyn by Henry Kingsley
But oh! the slips of those who are shodden with vanity!
From Autobiography and Letters of Orville Dewey, D.D. Edited by his Daughter by Mary Elizabeth Dewey
Therefore, without more hesitation, I plunged into the middle way, holding a long ash-staff before me, shodden at the end with iron.
From Library of the World's Best Literature, Ancient and Modern — Volume 5 by Hamilton Wright Mabie
On either side, in purple distance, sprang sky-piercing obelisks and vapor-mantled glaciers, spangled with bright snow, and shodden with eternal forest.
From Erema — My Father's Sin by R. D. (Richard Doddridge) Blackmore
Discuss shoeing and hoof care options with a farrier.
From BBC ● Jul. 3, 2026
He began shoeing horses for television and film westerns, and gradually took nonspeaking roles on horseback.
From New York Times ● Aug. 1, 2020
“I think they got greedy and sloppy. It defies logic to improve every horse you get. You can change shoeing equipment, surface, vitamins, but you can’t improve every horse.”
From Washington Post ● Mar. 17, 2020
Cherry’s curiosity about people’s lives produced finely observed pictures of immigrants, street vendors, bocce players, farriers shoeing Central Park carriage horses, construction workers, fruit auctioneers and children watching in amazement as an airplane flew overhead.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 15, 2019
Purses were often smaller than the cost of shoeing a horse—about $1.40.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
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.
