footboy 
Too proud for dairy-work, or sale of eggs, 
Expect her soon v/ilu footboy at her heels. 
Camper, Task, iv. 550. 
foot-breadth (fiif bredth), . The breadth of 
the foot ; an area as large as the sole of the foot, 
2311 
foot-gear (fut'ger), . Covering for the feet; 
shoes or boots and stockings. 
Their foot-gear testified no higher than the ankle to the 
muddy pilgrimage these good people found themselves 
engaged in. Carlyle. 
I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as a foot-geldt, [In old law, repr. ME. *fotgeld 
foot breadth. De ut - 6 - or 'fotgild, <fot, foot, + geld, gild, a payment: 
foot-bridge (fut'brij), w. [< ME. fotebrydge; see yield.] In old Eng. forest law, a fine for not 
< foot + bridge 1 .] 1. A bridge for foot-passen- expeditating dogs in a royal forest, 
gers. foot-gint, [< ME. *footgin, feetgyn; < foot 
Anil many yeres byfore ye passyon^of our Lorde there + gin*.] A snare for the feet. 
Vnpitous men, waitende, as foulers, grenes puttende 
tmAfeetgynnes, to ben cagt men. Wyelif, Jer. v. 28. 
foot-elovet (fut'gluv), . A kind of stocking; 
2. In mach. a curved bar which serves as a I *ST u gS g, tfc f eet. 
step for the foot or toe of a mill-spindle, 
foot-brig (fuf brig), . A dialectal form offoot- 
bridge. 
foot-cloth (fut'kloth), n. 1. A large sumpter- 
cloth, or housing of a horse, formerly in use 
and considered a mark of dignity and state. 
Three times to-day my foot-cloth horse did stumble, 
And started, when he looked upon the Tower, His footgrene [ 
rtllU I1IU1IJ J\,.\.a u.,- --,,- f iit. 1. , 
lay ouer the same a tree for &Jote brydge, wherof the holy 
crosse was afterwardes made. 
Sir K. Uwjlforde, Pylgrymage, p. 31. 
The buskins and foot-gloues we wore. Defoe. 
foot-grain (fut'gran), n. A unit of mechanical 
work, equal to the work done by a force of one 
grain acting through a distance of one foot. 
foot-grint, [ME. footgrene ; < foot + grin^.] 
A snare for the feet. 
footknave 
Make holiday ; your rye-straw hats put on, 
And these fresh nymphs encounter every one 
In country footing. Shak., Tempest, iv. 1. 
Your dance is the best language of some comedies, 
And footing runs away with all. 
Shirley, love in a Maze, iv. 2. 
3. Track; footprint. [Bare.] 
I follow here the footing of thy feete. 
Spenser, F. Q., IV. ii. 84. 
Or, like a nymph with long dishevell'd hair, 
Dance on the sands, and yet no footing seen. 
Shale., Venus and Adonis, 1. 148. 
Master Kniuet writeth that hee saw footings at Port 
Desire as bigge as foure of oures : and two men newly 
buried, one of which was fourteene spans long. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 851. 
4. Place for the foot ; ground to stand on. 
Stand sure and take good /OHMS'. 
Skelton, Colin Clout, 1. 1071. 
Such spoils her desperate step had sought, 
Where scarce vizi footing for the goat. 
Scott, I. of the L., iv. 21. 
As loth to bear me to the slaughterhouse. 
Shak., Rich. III., Hi. 4. 
var foottrappe, Purv.] is hid in the erthe. 
Wyelif, Job xviii. 10 (Oxf.). 
Cade. Thou dost ride on & foot-cloth, dost thou not? 
Say. What of that? 
Cade. Marry, thou oughtest not to let thy horse wear a 
cloak when honester men than thou go in their hose and 
doublets. Shak., 2 Hen. VI., iv. 7. 
How he should worshipped be, and reverenced, 
Ride with his furs and foot-cloths. 
2. A carpet or rug. 
Abbot Egelric . . . gave to that church [at Croyland] 
before the 
the high al 
flowers." 
foot-guard (fufgard),w. 1. A boot or pad worn 
by a horse to prevent wounding the feet by in- 
terfering or overreaching. 2. pi. Guards of in- 
fantry. The foot-guards in the British army form the 
garrison of the metropolis and the guard of the sovereign 
at Windsor. They consist of three regiments, the Grena- 
dier Coldstream, and Scots Fusilier Guards. 
B. Jonson, Volpone, i. 1. f oo t-halt (fuf halt), n. [< foot + halft.] A 
disease incident to sheep, and said to proceed 
, . . . from a worm which enters between the hoofs. 
year 992, "two large /oo-cIo(As (so carpets foQ^Jumfled (fuf han"ded), , a. Pedimanous: a 
a'r^and tw^Bhorter'oifestraHed'all'over^rith term applied to certain CMropoda (which see). 
' s.K. Handbook, Textile Fabrics, p. 103. foot-hawker (fut'ha"ker), n. One who travels 
Tumbled on the purple footcloth, lay on foot to sell his wares; a peddler. 
The lily-shining child. Tennyson, Princess, iv. Tne revenue f,. om the foot-hawkers' licences, about 
foot-CUShion 3 (fut'kush'on), re. In entom., same W per annum, ^JJj^^SSSSgm* 
footed /fuf ed'), a. [< foot + -ecP.] Provided foot-hedge (fuf hej), n. A slight dry hedge of 
with a foot or feet : usually in composition : as, thorns, to protect a newly planted hedge. Also 
called footset. [Prov. Eng.] 
foot-hill (fut'hil), n. A distinct lower part of a 
mountain ; one of the hills or minor elevations 
of a mountain range which lie next the valley 
and form the transitions between that and the 
higher portions : most commonly in the plural : 
as, the foot-kills of the Sierra Nevada. 
The tangled, woody, and almost trackless foot-hills that 
enclose the valley . . . were dwarfed into satellites by the 
She fulmined out her scorn of laws Salique 
And little-/oo(i China. Tennyson, Princess, ii. 
footer (fut'er), n. 1. One who goes on foot; 
a walker. [Colloq.] 
He had the reputation of being the best footer in the 
West. . . . The next day some of the chiefs determined 
that their best walker should accompany him to see if he 
could not be walked down. 
New York Semi-weekly Tribune, Sept. 21, 1881. 
2. In falconry, a hawk which seizes its prey 
with its talons. 
They [the great northern falcons] are considerably swift- 
er than the peregrines, and are most deadly footers. 
Encyc. Brit., IX. 10. f 00 thold (fuf hold), n. 
3. A stroke with the foot ; a kick at a foot-ball. 
Grose. [North. Eng.] 4. An idler. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
foote-sauntet, [Perhaps < foot + *saunt = 
saintf, var. of cent, F. cent, a hundred; allusion 
obscure.] A certain game at cards. Gossan, 
Schoole of Abuse (1579). 
footfall (fut'fal), n. A footstep; the tread of 
the foot. 
I should evermore be vext with thee 
In hanging robe or vacant ornament, 
Or ghostly footfall echoing on the stair. 
Tennyson, Guinevere. 
footfastt (fut'fast), a. and n. [< ME. fotefest 
(as noun); < foot + fas ft.] I. a. 1. Held by 
the foot; hence, fettered; captive. 
II. re. A captive ; a prisoner. 
That he herde sighinge of fotefeste sone [authorized 
version, To hear the groaning of the prisoner]. 
Ps. ci. 21, ME. version (cii. 20, authorized version). 
foot-fight (fuf fit), n. A fight between persons foot^O* Jjfto^xQ 
on foot. 
bulk and bearing of Mount Saint Helena. 
R, L. Stevenson, Silverado Squatters, p. 34. 
There are towns situated at various elevations among 
our mountains and foot-hills, so sheltered as to be very 
free from winds. Pop. Sci. Mo., XXVIII. 673. 
Rubbing his eyes, he followed Joe down the dark, un- 
certain footing of the stairs. 
J. T. Trowbridge, Coupon Bonds, p. 126. 
Hence 5. Established place; secure posi- 
tion; foothold. 
Next to the third reigned his fourth Son Alfred, in whose 
Time came over greater Swarms of Danes than ever be- 
fore and had now got Footing in the North, the West, 
and South Parts of this Island. Baker, Chronicles, p. 8. 
What he [Christ] had said concerning the Resurrection 
was only to be understood of the state of Regeneration : 
which doctrine, it seems, had gotten great footing in the 
Church of Corinth by their means. 
Stillinffjleet, Sermons, II. Ii. 
As soon as he had obtained a. footing at court. 
Mocaulay. 
6. Basis; foundation. 
Shall we, upon the/ooti'n? of our land, 
Send fair-play orders, and make compromise? 
Shak., K. John, v. 1. 
[These things] had no footing in scripture, nor had lieen 
in use in the purest churches for three hundred years af- 
ter Christ. Winthrop, Hist. New England, I. 243. 
If our law is not already on Ms footing, I wish extreme- 
ly it were put on it. 
Jefferson, quoted in Bancroft's Hist. Const., I. 430. 
7. Mutual standing; reciprocal relation : as, a 
friendly footing. 
I should carefully avoid any intercourse with Philip on 
any other footing than that of quiet friendship. 
George Eliot, Mill on the Floss, vi. 3. 
Frankness invites frankness, puts the parties on a con- 
venient footing, and makes their business a friendship. 
Emerson, Essays, 1st ser., p. 215. 
8. The act of putting a foot to anything, or 
that which is added as a foot. 9. The act of 
adding up a column of figures, or the amount 
of such a column. 10. A narrow piece of net- 
the feet firmly and prevents them from slip- 
ping ; that on which one may stand or tread se- 
curely ; hence, firm standing ; footing ; stable 
position ; settlement ; establishment. 
He determined to march at once against the enemy, and 
prevent his gaining a permanent foothold in the kingdom. 
Prescott. 
It was the first foothold of the barbarian, the gate by 
which he seemed likely to open his way to the possession 
of the central peninsula of Europe. 
E. A. Freeman, Venice, p. 321. 
Fancy flutters over these vague wastes like a butterfly 
blown out to sea, and finds no foothold. 
Lowell, Oration, Harvard, Nov. 8, 1886. 
2. A kind of light india-rubber overshoe, leav- 
ing the heel unprotected; a sandal. Some- 
times called tip. 
foothook 
1 . That which sustains t; or tne Iik6; having two parallel edges, used 
,,,^fc, tv,,> m <w> ah. - 
So began ourfootfyht, in such sort that we were well en- 
tered to blood of both sides. Sir P. Sidney, Arcadia, ii. 
foot-folk (fut'fok), n. [< ME. footefolk, fote- 
folke (= D. voetvolk = MHG. votavoie, G. fuss- 
volk = Sw. fotfolk = Dan. fodfolk) ; < foot + 
folk.] Infantry. 
The footefolk and sympyl knaves 
In hand they hente ful good staves. 
Richard Coer de Lion, 1. 4529. 
A favourite book of his grandfather had been the life of 
old Geoi'ge Frundsberg of Mindelheim, a colonel of foot- 
folk in the Imperial service at Pavia fight. 
Thackeray, Virginians, Ixiii. 
foot-followert, [ME. footfolower, feetfolow- 
t-r (tr. L. pediseqmis, m., pediseqna, f.); < foot 
+ follower.] A follower; an attendant; a re- 
tainer. 
Abigail hljede and roos and stiede vpon the asse, and 
fyue childwymmen hir feetfoloivers wenten with hlr. 
Wyelif, I Ki. (1 Sam.) xxv. 42 (Oxf.). 
hote; < foot + hot; 
hot haste ; hence, in extended use, with all ex- 
pedition. 
And Custance han they take anon, foot-hot, 
And in a ship al sterelees, God wot, 
They han hir set. Chaucer, Man of Law's Tale, 1. 340. 
footing (fuf ing), n. [< ME./otfreg (= G./HS- 
suttg) ; verbal n. of foot, v.] 
step; footstep. 
The famous witnesse of pur wonted praise, 
They trampled have with their tovile footings trade [tread], 
And like to troubled puddles have them made. 
in women's dress as a basis upon which a scal- 
loped or other ornamental edging can be sewed. 
11. The straight edge of a piece of lace 
which is sewed to a garment, as distinguished 
from the scalloped edge, which is left free. 12. 
The finer detached fragments of whale-blub- 
ber, not wholly deprived of oil. 13. In arch., 
a spreading course at the base or foundation 
of a wall. 14. The lower division of the slope 
of an embankment exposed to the sea. 15. A 
piece of wood inserted in the shaftment of an 
arrow at the nock. Amer. Nat., July, 1886. p. 
674. 16. An entertainment given on entering 
a school, or any new place or office. Rrockett. 
[Prov. Eng.] To pay one's footing, to pay money, 
usually to be spent for drink, on first doing something, 
as on entering upon a trade, or upon one's engagement 
in a place of employment. 
footing-beam (fuf ing-bem), n. In arch., the 
tie-beam of a roof. 
footinglyt, adv. Nimbly; featly. 
For who, for number or for grace, 
Dare mell with me in ryme? 
Or who can daunce so footingly, 
Obseruing tune and time? 
Drant, tr. of Horace's Satires, i. 9. 
foot-iron (fut'I'ern), n. 1. A carriage-step. 
2. A fetter for the feet. 
1. Walk; tread; foot-jaw (fuf ja), re. Amaxilliped orgnathopo- 
dite; one of those limbs of crustaceans and 
other arthropods which are modified into ac- 
cessory mouth-parts. See cut under Podoph- 
Spemer, Tears of the Muses, 1. 276. f^t-joint (fuf joint), n. 1. In ornith., the po- 
I would out-night you, did no body come ; darthrum ; the junction of the toes collectively 
with the metatarsus. 2. In entom., one of the 
joints of the foot or tarsus of an insect, com- 
monly five in number. 
. ., _.._. foot-key (fut'ke), H. The pedal of an organ. 
K. L. Stevenson, Markheim. footknavet, . [ME./oteA'imt't; (.foot + knave.] 
2. Dance ; rhythmical tread. A footboy ;' a lackey. 
But, hark, I hear the footing of a man. 
Shak., M. of V., v. 1. 
Yet, in the bulk of empty house above him, he could 
surely hear a stir of delicate footing he was surely con- 
scious, inexplicably conscious, of some presence. 
