shoe
UK /ˈʃuː/ · US /ˈʃu/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms shoes shoon shoeing shod shoed shoen shodden
- noun (footwear) A protective covering for the foot, with a bottom part composed of thick leather or plastic sole and often a thicker heel, and a softer upper part made of leather or synthetic material. Shoes generally do not extend above the ankle, as opposed to boots, which do. “Get your shoes on now, or you'll be late for school.”
- noun A piece of metal designed to be attached to a horse's foot as a means of protection; a horseshoe. “Throw the shoe from behind the line, and try to get it to land circling (a ringer) or touching the far stake.”
- noun (card games) A device for holding multiple decks of playing cards, allowing more games to be played by reducing the time between shuffles.
- noun Something resembling a shoe in form, position, or function, such as a brake shoe. “Remember to turn the rotors when replacing the brake shoes, or they will wear out unevenly.”
- noun A band of iron or steel, or a ship of wood, fastened to the bottom of the runner of a sleigh, or any vehicle which slides on the snow.
- noun A drag, or sliding piece of wood or iron, placed under the wheel of a loaded vehicle, to retard its motion in going down a hill.
- noun The part of a brake for a wheeled vehicle which presses upon the wheel to retard its motion.
- noun (architecture) A trough-shaped or spout-shaped member, put at the bottom of the water leader coming from the eaves gutter, so as to throw the water off from the building.
- verb (intransitive) To put shoes on one's own feet. “Men and women clothed and shod for the ascent.”
- verb (transitive) To put shoes on someone or something else's feet, especially to put horseshoes on a horse.
- verb (intransitive, chiefly as past participle) To cover an object with a protective layer of material. “The billiard cue stick was shod in silver.”
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
boat money shoe money kick calceate horseshoe brake shoe skid
Etymology
From Middle English scho, sho, from Old English sċōh (“shoe”), from Proto-West Germanic *skōh, from Proto-Germanic *skōhaz (“shoe”), of unclear etymology; possibly a derivation from *skehaną (“to move quickly”), from Proto-Indo-European *skek- (“to move quickly, jump”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English sabatine, sabatoun (“shoe”) from Medieval Latin sabatēnum, sabatum (“shoe, slipper”) (compare Old Occitan sabatō, Spanish zapato (“shoe”), French sabot (“wooden shoe, clog”), Italian ciabatta). The archaic plural shoon is from Middle English shon, from Old English scōn, scōum (“shoes”, dative plural) and scōna (“shoes'”, genitive plural); it is cognate with Scots shuin (“shoes”). See also Scots shae, West Frisian skoech, Low German Schoh, Dutch schoen, German Schuh, Bavarian Schuach, Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish sko, Tocharian B skāk (“balcony”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A covering for the human foot, usually made of leather, having a thick and somewhat stiff sole and a lighter top. It differs from a boot on not extending so far up the leg. Your hose should be ungartered, . . . yourshoe untied. Shak.
- noun Anything resembling a shoe in form, position, or use. Specifically: (a) A plate or rim of iron nailed to the hoof of an animal to defend it from injury.
- verb To furnish with a shoe or shoes; to put a shoe or shoes on; as, to shoe a horse, a sled, an anchor.
- verb To protect or ornament with something which serves the purpose of a shoe; to tip. The sharp and small end of the billiard stick, which is shod with brass or silver. Evelyn.
Etymology [OE. sho, scho, AS. sc, sceóh; akin to OFries. sk, OS. sk, D. schoe, schoen, G. schuh, OHG. scuoh, Icel. sk, Dan. & Sw. sko, Goth. sk; of unknown origin.]
Etymology [AS. sc, sce. See Shoe, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “shoe”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details