shoe

[ shoo ]

/ ʃu /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR shoe ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural shoes, (especially British Dialect) shoon.

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.

an object or part resembling a shoe in form, position, or use.

a horseshoe or a similar plate for the hoof of some other animal.

a ferrule or the like, as of iron, for protecting the end of a staff, pole, etc.

brake shoe.

the outer casing of a pneumatic automobile tire.

a drag or skid for a wheel of a vehicle.

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.

the sliding contact by which an electric car or locomotive takes its current from the third rail.

Civil Engineering.

a member supporting one end of a truss or girder in a bridge.
a hard and sharp foot of a pile or caisson for piercing underlying soil.

a small molding, as a quarter round, closing the angle between a baseboard and a floor.

the outwardly curved portion at the base of a downspout.

a piece of iron or stone, sunk into the ground, against which the leaves of a gateway are shut.

a device on a camera that permits an accessory, as a flashgun, to be attached.

a band of iron on the bottom of the runner of a sleigh.

Cards. dealing box.

Furniture.

a cuplike metal piece for protecting the bottom of a leg.
a fillet beneath an ornamental foot, as a pad or scroll foot.

Printing. a box into which unusable type is thrown.

a chute conveying grain to be ground into flour.

Carpentry. soleplate.

Nautical. a thickness of planking covering the bottom of the keel of a wooden vessel to protect it against rubbing.

verb (used with object), shod or shoed, shod or shoed or shod·den, shoe·ing.

to provide or fit with a shoe or shoes.

to protect or arm at the point, edge, or face with a ferrule, metal plate, or the like.

Nearby words

shockproof, shockstall, shockumentary, shod, shoddy, shoe, shoe boil, shoe is on the other foot, the, shoe leather, shoebill, shoeblack

Idioms

drop the other shoe, to complete an action or enterprise already begun.

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.

in someone's shoes, in a position or situation similar to that of another: I wouldn't like to be in his shoes.

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.

where the shoe pinches, the true cause of the trouble or worry.

Origin of shoe

before 900; (noun) Middle English scho(o), Old English sceō(h), cognate with German Schuh, Old Norse skōr, Gothic skōhs; (v.) Middle English schon, Old English scōg(e)an, cognate with Middle Low German schoi(g)en, Old Norse skūa

Related forms

shoe·less, adjectivere·shoe, verb (used with object), re·shod, re·shoe·ing.un·der·shoe, nounun·shoed, adjective

Can be confused

shoe shoo

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for shoe

If we begin to see the other as our possession and commodity, our shoe, the shadow of our shadow, is there ever a happy outcome?
Owning Up to Possession’s Downside|Samantha Harvey|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
They seem to belong to us, and then they freely go—behavior very uncharacteristic of a shadow or a shoe.
Owning Up to Possession’s Downside|Samantha Harvey|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If I say “my shoe,” do I mean it in the same way as “my life,” or “my sister” or “my husband”?
Owning Up to Possession’s Downside|Samantha Harvey|December 14, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The everyday stress, wondering if the other shoe was going to drop and I was going to be outed, is what led to me outing myself.
Exclusive: Michael Phelps’s Intersex Self-Proclaimed Girlfriend, Taylor Lianne Chandler, Tells All|Aurora Snow|November 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST

But New Balance pledges that it will take the hit for any additional per-unit cost that comes from making an all-American shoe.
New Balance Lobbies Congress to Make the U.S. Military's Only Running Shoe|Tim Mak|September 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If in the morning, his shoe was put on wrong, the left instead of the right, that boded some disaster.
The Trial of Jesus from a Lawyer's Standpoint, Vol. II (of II)|Walter M. Chandler
I have a Relative who can spin you the story of anybody's life if you only tell him what number of shoe he wears.
Sweethearts at Home|S. R. Crockett
At her feet with his head resting on her shoe there lay a dog.
The Duchess of Wrexe|Hugh Walpole
He devoted the next day to going around among the shoe shops; but everywhere he met with unfavorable answers.
Bound to Rise|Horatio Alger
In lieu of the shoe untanned leather was tied with thongs around the feet.
An Historical Account of the Settlements of Scotch Highlanders in America|J. P. MacLean

British Dictionary definitions for shoe

shoe

/ (ʃuː) /

noun

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
(as modifier)shoe cleaner

anything resembling a shoe in shape, function, position, etc, such as a horseshoe

a band of metal or wood on the bottom of the runner of a sledge

(in baccarat, etc) a boxlike device for holding several packs of cards and allowing the cards to be dispensed singly

a base for the supports of a superstructure of a bridge, roof, etc

a metal collector attached to an electric train that slides along the third rail and picks up power for the motor

engineering a lining to protect from and withstand wearSee brake shoe, pile shoe

be in a person's shoes informal to be in another person's situation

verb shoes, shoeing or shod (tr)

to furnish with shoes

to fit (a horse) with horseshoes

to furnish with a hard cover, such as a metal plate, for protection against friction or bruising

Word Origin for shoe

Old English scōh; related to Old Norse skōr, Gothic skōhs, Old High German scuoh

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

Idioms and Phrases with shoe

shoe

In addition to the idiom beginning with shoe

shoe is on the other foot, the

also see:

comfortable as an old shoe
fill someone's shoes
goody-two-shoes
if the shoe fits
in someone's shoes
step into someone's shoes
wait for the other shoe to drop