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shoehorn

American  
[shoo-hawrn] / ˈʃuˌhɔrn /

noun

  1. a shaped piece of horn, metal, or the like, inserted in the heel of a shoe to make it slip on more easily.

verb (used with object)

  1. to force into a limited or tight space.

    Can you shoehorn four of us into the back seat of your car?
shoehorn British  
/ ˈʃuːˌhɔːn /

noun

  1. a smooth curved implement of horn, metal, plastic, etc, inserted at the heel of a shoe to ease the foot into it

"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

verb

  1. (tr) to cram (people or things) into a very small space

"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

Etymology

Origin of shoehorn

First recorded in 1580–90; shoe + horn

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.

It is no mean feat to shoehorn a half-millennium of social, political and economic tumult into a single volume.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 14, 2025

I'm a big Marcus Smith fan but there is no room to shoehorn people in at international level.

From BBC • Feb. 23, 2025

Scott, as usual, also needs to shoehorn meaning that he doesn't know how to produce and erase history that he doesn't know how to replace.

From Salon • Dec. 7, 2024

Galveston’s lawyers, though, say the Black and Latino populations are too dispersed to shoehorn in a specific district for them.

From Washington Times • Dec. 27, 2023

They made me remember that guy David and the shoehorn.

From "Miracle's Boys" by Jacqueline Woodson

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.