forefoot

English

Etymology

From Middle English forefot, forfote, equivalent to fore- +‎ foot.

Pronunciation

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Noun

forefoot (plural forefeet)

1. Either of the front feet of a quadruped.
2. The front part of a person's foot.
   • 2014, Allan Lawrence, Olympus and Beyond, page 100:

     I was not even sure I could change it at all, but I was convinced that I had to change my foot plant and land higher on my forefoot, rather than my heel.

3. (shipbuilding) A piece of timber terminating the keel at the fore end, connecting it with the lower end of the stem.
   • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

     I could see the waves boiling white under her forefoot.

Translations

either of the front feet of a quadruped

• German: Vorderfuß (de) m
• Kven: etujalka
• Latin: antepēs m
• Norwegian: forfot
• Swedish: framfot (sv) c

Verb

forefoot (third-person singular simple present forefoots, present participle forefooting, simple past and past participle forefooted)

1. (rare, obsolete) To repair the front area of (a shoe etc).
2. (transitive) To catch (a horse) by binding its front legs together with rope.
   • 1992, Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses, →ISBN, page 106:

     He took the first one that broke and rolled his loop and forefooted the colt and it hit the ground with a tremendous thump.

   • 2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 51:

     By the time she was twelve, she could flank and mug as well as her brothers, she could forefoot anything that moved, but it didn't matter.

Translations

to bind the forefeet of an animal

• Finnish: sitoa etujalat