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hoof

[hoof, hoof] Origin

hoof

[hoof, hoof] noun, plural hoofs or hooves for 1, 2, 4; hoof for 3, 7; verb
noun
1.
the horny covering protecting the ends of the digits or encasing the foot in certain animals, as the ox and horse.
2.
the entire foot of a horse, donkey, etc.
3.
Older Use. a hoofed animal, especially one of a herd.
4.
Informal. the human foot.
verb (used with object)
5.
Slang. to walk (often followed by it): Let's hoof it to the supermarket.

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Hoof is one of our favorite verbs.
So is hornswoggle. Does it mean:
to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.
to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about.
verb (used without object)
6.
Slang. to dance, especially to tap-dance: He's been hoofing at the Palladium.
7.
on the hoof, (of livestock) not butchered; live: The city youngsters were seeing lambs on the hoof for the first time.

Origin:
before 1000; Middle English (noun); Old English hōf; cognate with Old Frisian hōf, Dutch hoef, German Huf, Old Norse hōfr; compare Sanskrit śaphas

hoof·i·ness, noun
hoof·less, adjective
hoof·like, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
hoof (huːf)
 
n , pl hooves, hoofs
1.  a.  the horny covering of the end of the foot in the horse, deer, and all other ungulate mammals
 b.  (in combination): a hoofbeat Related: ungular
2.  the foot of an ungulate mammal
3.  a hoofed animal
4.  facetious a person's foot
5.  on the hoof
 a.  (of livestock) alive
 b.  in an impromptu manner: he did his thinking on the hoof
 
vb
6.  (tr) to kick or trample with the hoofs
7.  slang hoof it
 a.  to walk
 b.  to dance
 
Related: ungular
 
[Old English hōf; related to Old Norse hōfr, Old High German huof (German Huf), Sanskrit saphás]
 
'hoofless
 
adj
 
'hooflike
 
adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

hoof
O.E. hof, from P.Gmc. *khofaz (cf. O.Fris. hof, Dan. hov, Du. hoef, Ger. Huf "hof"), from PIE *kopos (cf. Skt. saphah "hoof"). For spelling, see hood. Sense of "to walk" (hoof it) is first attested 1641; "to dance" is 1921 Amer.Eng. (in hoofer).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Easton
Bible Dictionary

Hoof definition


a cleft hoof as of neat cattle (Ex. 10:26; Ezek. 32:13); hence also of the horse, though not cloven (Isa. 5:28). The "parting of the hoof" is one of the distinctions between clean and unclean animals (Lev. 11:3; Deut. 14:7).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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