hoof

hoof — noun

1. The hard, tough covering made of keratin that grows on the lower part of each fo

1.nounB1
Definition

The hard, tough covering made of keratin that grows on the lower part of each foot in large plant-eating mammals like horses, cattle, sheep, goats, and deer, protecting the foot and helping the animal move over different types of ground.

Example

The farrier checked each hoof on Andrés's horse for cracks before the race.

check a hoof — inspect for damage or disease

Yasmin watched the mountain goats grip the steep rocks with their small, sharp hooves.

irregular plural: hooves (also accepted: hoofs)

Common collocations
  • clean a hoof
  • check a hoof
  • shoe a hoof
  • cracked hoof
  • split hoof
  • horse's hooves
Synonyms
  • trotter

    refers specifically to the foot of a pig, especially in cooking; not interchangeable with hoof for horses or cattle

  • cloven hoof

    a hoof split into two parts, found on animals like cows, sheep, and goats; a subtype of hoof

Usage Note

The standard plural is hooves, though hoofs is also accepted in informal writing. This sense is usually used for large plant-eating mammals — birds and small mammals have claws or paws, not hooves.

Common Mistakes

The dog hurt its hoof on the pavement.
The dog hurt its paw on the pavement.
Dogs have paws with pads, not hooves.
Idioms

on the hoof

idiom

Done quickly while you are busy doing other things, without careful planning.

Sara grabbed a sandwich on the hoof between meetings.

The manager made decisions on the hoof during the crisis.

hoof — verb

Word family

  • hoofed
    adjectiveB2
  • hooves
    nounB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Hoof, paw, claw, and trotter all name animal feet but describe very different structures. A hoof is the hard, horny covering on the feet of large plant-eaters like horses and cattle — it is solid and built for bearing weight on firm ground. A paw is the soft, padded foot of mammals such as dogs and cats, with toes that end in claws. A claw is the curved, sharp nail on the toes of birds and some mammals, used for gripping, tearing, or hunting. A trotter is a more specific term for the foot of a pig, most often used in cooking. For example, a farrier trims a horse's hooves; a cat cleans its paw; an eagle uses its claws to catch prey; and pig trotters are sometimes boiled for soup.

hoof ↗paw ↗clawtrotter

Etymology

Proto-Indo-EuropeanProto-GermanicOld EnglishEnglish

Hoof comes from Old English hōf, which goes back to a Proto-Germanic root *hōfaz (meaning the same thing). This root is related to German Huf and Dutch hoef. Further back, it traces to the Proto-Indo-European root *ḱoph₂-, also referring to the hard foot of an animal. The word has kept the same basic meaning for thousands of years across many related languages.