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shoehorn

The definition of a shoehorn is a curved piece of plastic or metal that helps you to get your heel into the back of your shoe.

(noun)

When you go to try on shoes and the salesman uses a plastic curved piece to help your heel slide more easily into the back of the shoe, this curved piece is an example of a shoehorn.

Shoehorn is to try to force something into a space that is too small.

(verb)

When you try to force an entire house full of furniture into a one-bedroom apartment, this is an example of a time when you try to shoehorn.

See shoehorn in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

an implement of metal, horn, plastic, etc. with a troughlike blade, inserted at the back of a shoe to aid in slipping the heel in

transitive verb

to force or squeeze into a narrow space

See shoehorn in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

A smooth curved implement, often of plastic or metal, inserted at the heel to help put on a shoe.

transitive verb shoe·horned, shoe·horn·ing, shoe·horns

To squeeze into or as if into an insufficient space: The usher shoehorned us into the back of the crowded theater.

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