hoof

Definition

The tip of a toe of an ungulate such as a horse, ox or deer, strengthened by a thick keratin covering.

Etymology

From Middle English hoof, hof, from Old English hōf, from Proto-Germanic *hōfaz (compare West Frisian hoef, Dutch hoef, German Huf, Danish hov, Norwegian hov, Swedish hov), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱoph₂ós (compare Sanskrit शफ (śaphá, “hoof, claw”), Avestan 𐬯𐬀𐬟𐬀 (safa, “hoof”), possibly Czech, Polish kopyto).

Example Sentences

• "[…] I ſee Th’ Inſulting Tyrant prancing o’er the Field Strow’d with Rome’s Citizens, and drench’d in Slaughter, His Horſe’s Hoofs wet with Patrician Blood."
• "Get your hooves off me!"
• "He is a huge man, six feet four on bare hoofs and composed of two hundred and seventy pounds of solid bone and muscle."