foot

Universal Words noun, verb noun (plural feet ) part of body 1 [C] the lowest part of the leg, below the ankle, on which a person or an animal stands: My feet are aching. * to get / rise to your feet (= stand up) * I've been on my feet (= standing or walking around) all day. * We came on foot (= we walked). * Come on lads-on your feet and do some work! * walking around the house in bare feet (= not wearing shoes or socks) * Daniel was shifting anxiously from foot to foot. * a foot brake / pump (= operated using your foot, not your hand) * a foot passenger (= one who travels on a ferry without a car) * a foot soldier (= one without a vehicle or horse) seealsoATHLETE'SFOOT, BAREFOOT, CLUBFOOT, UNDERFOOT -footed 2 (in adjectives and adverbs) having or using the type or number of foot/feet mentioned: bare-footed * four-footed * a left-footed shot into the corner seealsoFLAT-FOOTED, SURE-FOOTED part of sock 3 [C,usually sing.] the part of a sock, STOCKING, etc. that covers the foot base / bottom 4 [sing.] the ~ of sth the lowest part of sth; the base or bottom of sth: the foot of the stairs / page / mountain * The nurse hung a chart at the foot of the bed (= the part of the bed where your feet normally are when you are lying in it). measurement 5 (plural feet or foot) (abbreviation ft) a unit for measuring length equal to 12 INCHES or 30.48 CENTIMETRES: a 6-foot high wall * We're flying at 35000 feet. * 'How tall are you?' 'Five foot nine' (= five feet and nine inches). -footer 6 (in compound nouns) a person or thing that is a particular number of feet tall or long: His boat is an eighteen-footer. * Both my brothers are six-footers. in poetry 7 [sing.] (technical) a unit of rhythm in a line of poetry containing one stressed syllable and one or more syllables without stress. Each of the four divisions in the following line is a foot: For men / may come / and men / may go. IDIOMS be rushed / run off your feet to be extremely busy; to have too many things to do: Weekdays are slow in the restaurant, but at weekends the staff are rushed off their feet. fall / land on your feet to be lucky in finding yourself in a good situation, or in getting out of a difficult situation: You landed on your feet, getting such a well-paid job with so little experience. * Jim's always getting himself in trouble, but he usually seems to fall on his feet. get / have a / your foot in the door to manage to enter an organization, a field of business, etc. that could bring you success: I always wanted to work in TV but it took me two years to get a foot in the door. get / start off on the right / wrong foot (with sb) (informal) to start a relationship well/badly: I seem to have got off on the wrong foot with the new boss. have feet of clay to have a fault or weakness in your character: When the actor was imprisoned for drug offences, his fans were upset to find that their hero had feet of clay. have / keep your feet on the ground to have a sensible and realistic attitude to life: In spite of his overnight stardom he still manages to keep his feet on the ground. have / keep a foot in both camps to be involved in or connected with two different or opposing groups have one foot in the grave (informal) to be so old or ill that you are not likely to live much longer ...my foot! (informal, humorous) a strong way of saying that you disagree completely with what has just been said: 'Ian can't come because he's tired.' 'Tired my foot! Lazy more like!' on your feet completely well or in a normal state again after an illness or a time of trouble: Sue's back on her feet again after her operation. * The new chairman hopes to get the company back on its feet within six months. put your best foot forward to make a great effort to do sth, especially if it is difficult or you are feeling tired put your feet up to sit down and relax, especially with your feet raised and supported: After a hard day's work, it's nice to get home and put your feet up. put your foot down 1 to be very strict in opposing what sb wishes to do: You've got to put your foot down and make him stop seeing her. 2 (BrE) to drive faster: She put her foot down and roared past them. put your foot in it (BrE) (also put your foot in your mouth AmE, BrE) to say or do sth that upsets, offends or embarrasses sb: I really put my foot in it with Ella-I didn't know she'd split up with Tom. put a foot wrong (usually used in negative sentences) to make a mistake: In the last two games he has hardly put a foot wrong. set foot in / on sth to enter or visit a place: the first man to set foot on the moon * I vowed never to set foot in the place again. set sb/sth on their / its feet to make sb/sth independent or successful: His business sense helped set the club on its feet again. stand on your own (two) feet to be independent and able to take care of yourself: When his parents died he had to learn to stand on his own two feet. under your feet in the way; stopping you from working, etc: I don't want you kids under my feet while I'm cooking. moreatBOOTn., COLDadj., DRAGv., FINDv., GRASSn., GROUNDn., HANDn., HEADn., ITCHY, LEFTadj., PATTERn., PULLv., SHOEn., SHOOTv., SIT, STOCKING, SWEEPv., THINKv., VOTEv., WAITv., WALKv., WEIGHTn., WORLD verb IDIOMS foot the bill (informal) to be responsible for paying the cost of sth: Once again it will be the taxpayer who has to foot the bill. * Who will be footing the bill for the party?