shoehorn

American  

[shoo-hawrn] / ˈʃuˌhɔrn /

noun

• shoehorns
  plural

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

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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

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verb

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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• shoehorns
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of shoehorn

First recorded in 1580–90; shoe + horn

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shoehorn shoehorns

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

But longtime “Wicked” fans will notice that the movie doesn’t drastically shoehorn any part of the narrative.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 22, 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

"That guy David from Rahway? He ever killed anybody with that shoehorn?"

From "Miracle's Boys" by Jacqueline Woodson

Anthropic's advertisement broadcast during last week's Super Bowl showed a man asking advice from a conversational AI, which then shoehorns advertising copy for a dating site into its otherwise relevant response.

From Barron's ● Feb. 15, 2026

And the way he shoehorns the four-syllable “tarantula” into a three-note phrase is a triumph of enunciation.

From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2023

It is a shame the film shoehorns so much of the book into two hours.

From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2022

Luckily, I had recently purchased two of your quality shoehorns and was able to finish the exam without missing a beat.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 24, 2022

On top of Duncan’s legal battle, Buirski shoehorns Perez’s case against Sobol, accusing him of unlawfully practicing law by defending Duncan.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2021

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Related Words

• embed
• enter
• fill in
• imbed
• implant
• include
• inject
• introduce
• stick

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