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foot

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The definition of a foot is the end or last of something or 12 inches.

(noun)

An example of foot is the part of the body that goes in a shoe.
An example of foot is the bottom of a bed.
An example of foot is the length of a ruler.

Foot is defined as to walk, dance or go via the feet, or to pay for something.

(verb)

An example of foot is to hike up a mountain.
An example of foot is to pay the entire dinner bill for a group of people.

See foot in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun pl. feet

the end part of the leg, on which a person or animal stands or moves
a thing like a foot in some way; specif.,
1. the part that a thing stands on; base
2. the lowest part; bottom: the foot of a page
3. the last of a series: go to the foot of the line
4. the part of a sewing machine that holds the cloth steady
5. the part of the body of a mollusk that is normally muscular and ventrally located, used for attachment, burrowing, and locomotion, or, as in cephalopods, serving as the basis for the arms, tentacles, eyes, and mouth
the end of a bed, grave, etc. toward which the feet are directed
the end opposite to the end designated the head: at the foot of the table
the part of a stocking, boot, etc. that covers the foot
a unit of length in the FPS system, equal to 12 inches or yard (0.3048 meter): symbol, ′: abbrev. ft: pl. sometimes following a number [50 foot of lumber] and always in attributive use [a six-foot athlete]
Brit. foot soldiers; infantry
pl. foots the sediment in a liquid: usually used in pl.
a group of syllables serving as a unit of meter in verse; esp., such a unit having a specified placement of the stressed syllable or syllables

Origin: ME fot < OE, akin to Ger fuss < IE *pōd-, var. of base *pēd-, foot, to go > Sans pad-, Gr pous, L pes

intransitive verb

1. to dance
2. to go on foot: now rare exc. in phr. : see below
to move ahead, esp. with speed: said of a sailboat

transitive verb

to walk, dance, or run on, over, or through; tread
to make or repair the foot of (a stocking, etc.)
to add (a column of figures) and set down a total: often with up
☆ Informal to pay (costs, expenses, etc.): to foot the bill

See foot in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun pl. feet feet (fēt)

The lower extremity of the vertebrate leg that is in direct contact with the ground in standing or walking.
A structure used for locomotion or attachment in an invertebrate animal, such as the muscular organ extending from the ventral side of a mollusk.
Something suggestive of a foot in position or function, especially:
a. The lowest part; the bottom: the foot of a mountain; the foot of a page.
b. The end opposite the head, top, or front: the foot of a bed; the foot of a parade.
c. The termination of the leg of a piece of furniture, especially when shaped or modeled.
d. The part of a sewing machine that holds down and guides the cloth.
e. Nautical The lower edge of a sail.
f. Printing The part of a type body that forms the sides of the groove at the base.
g. Botany The base of the sporophyte in mosses and liverworts.
The inferior part or rank: at the foot of the class.
The part of a stocking or high-topped boot that encloses the foot.
a. A manner of moving; a step: walks with a light foot.
b. Speed or momentum, as in a race: “the only other Democrats who've demonstrated any foot till now” (Michael Kramer).
(used with a pl. verb) Foot soldiers; infantry.
A unit of poetic meter consisting of stressed and unstressed syllables in any of various set combinations. For example, an iambic foot has an unstressed followed by a stressed syllable.
Abbr. ft. or ft A unit of length in the U.S. Customary and British Imperial systems equal to 12 inches (0.3048 meter). See Table at measurement.
foots Sediment that forms during the refining of oil and other liquids; dregs.

verb foot·ed, foot·ing, foots foots

verb, intransitive

To go on foot; walk. Often used with it: When their car broke down, they had to foot it the rest of the way.
To dance. Often used with it: “We foot it all the night/weaving olden dances” (William Butler Yeats).
Nautical To make headway; sail.

verb, transitive

To go by foot over, on, or through; tread.
To execute the steps of (a dance).
To add up (a column of numbers) and write the sum at the bottom; total: footed up the bill.
To pay; defray: footed the expense of their children's education.
To provide (a stocking, for example) with a foot.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English fot

Origin: , from Old English fōt; see ped- in Indo-European roots

Usage Note: In Standard English, foot and feet have their own rules when they are used in combination with numbers to form expressions for units of measure: a four-foot plank, but not a four feet plank; also correct is a plank four feet long (or, less frequently, four foot long). When foot is combined with numbers greater than one to refer to simple distance, however, only the plural feet is used: a ledge 20 feet (not foot) away. At that speed, a car moves 88 feet (not foot) in a second.Our Living Language Some people in New England and the South use constructions such as three foot and five mile in place of Standard English three feet and five miles in certain contexts. Some speakers extend this practice to measures of time, as in He was gone three year, though this is not as common. Interestingly, such constructions are used only if a specific numeral (other than one) precedes the noun. Thus, She gave me four gallon of cider can be heard in vernacular speech; however, no one would say She gave me gallon of cider for She gave me gallons of cider. This is because the numeral makes apparent the plural meaning that would not be specified if both the numeral and the plural form were omitted. See Notes at comparative, plural, redundancy.

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