pedicure

pedicure — noun

1. a salon service where your toenails are cleaned and shaped and your feet are mad

1.nounB2
Definition

a salon service where your toenails are cleaned and shaped and your feet are made softer, sometimes with nail colour added

Example

Lina got a pedicure before her sister's summer wedding.

collocation: get a pedicure

After the race, Marcus booked a pedicure for his sore feet.

collocation: book a pedicure

Common collocations
  • get a pedicure
  • have a pedicure
  • book a pedicure
  • gel pedicure
  • French pedicure
Synonyms
  • foot treatment

    broader and can include medical or comfort care, not only beauty work

  • foot care

    a very general phrase for looking after the feet in any way

Grammar Patterns

get a pedicure

have a pedicure

book a pedicure

Usage Note

Usually countable after verbs like get, have, book, and give. For the person who performs the service, English normally uses pedicurist rather than pedicure.

Common Mistakes

I got a manicure on my toes before the wedding.
I got a pedicure before the wedding.
a manicure is for the hands and fingernails, while a pedicure is for the feet and toenails.

Word family

  • pedicurist
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

For noun sense 1, pedicure is the usual word for a beauty treatment focused on the feet and toenails. Foot care is much broader and can mean any habit or service that keeps feet healthy, such as washing, cream, or careful nail cutting at home. Foot treatment is also broader and may describe help for dry skin, pain, or nail problems, not only beauty work. Manicure is the matching salon service for the hands, so learners often mix the two up. Podiatry belongs to medical care and deals with illness or injury, not polish and spa chairs. You book a pedicure before wearing sandals, but you visit podiatry when a foot problem needs treatment.

foot carefoot treatmentmanicure ↗podiatry

Common collocations

Nouns

  • pedicure chair
  • pedicure kit
  • pedicure salon

Phrases

  • get a pedicure
  • have a pedicure
  • book a pedicure

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

Pedicure came into English through French pedicure. Its parts go back to Latin: pes or ped- meant 'foot', and cura or curare meant 'care' or 'look after'. The word's literal idea is therefore 'care for the feet'.