foot-binding

American  

[foot-bahyn-ding] / ˈfʊtˌbaɪn dɪŋ /

noun

1. (formerly in China) the act or practice of tightly binding the feet of infant girls to keep the feet as small as possible.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

foot-binding

At least Keziah wasn’t tip-toeing around to mimic bound feet in a play set a millennium before foot-binding became a thing in China, as in perhaps the most absurd example of cultural appropriation I’ve witnessed.

From The Guardian ● May 4, 2018

Our feet and spines will unknot, and high heels will fade from consciousness along with foot-binding and rib removal to shrink your waist.

From The New Yorker ● May 16, 2016

Instead of twiggy 1960s doll-like languor, our models more often portray a kind of wolfish, predatory and materialistic vision, with $2,000 handbags and platform heels that make Chinese foot-binding look enlightened.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 20, 2013

As one mandarin warned in the late 19th century, foot-binding made China "a laughingstock in the eyes of foreigners."

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2010

Yung-chang appears to be almost entirely inhabited by Chinese and in no part of the province did we see foot-binding more in evidence.

From Camps and Trails in China A Narrative of Exploration, Adventure, and Sport in Little-Known China by Andrews, Roy Chapman