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Foot
(Greek, pod'; Latin, ped'; French, pied;
Dutch, voet; Saxon, fot. Foot and pedal are
variants of the same word.)
Best foot foremost.
Use all possible dispatch. To “set on foot” is to set agoing. If
you have various powers of motion, set your best foremost.
“Nay, but make haste; the better foot before.”
Shakespeare: King John, iv. 2.
I have not yet got my foot in.
I am not yet familiar and easy with the work. The allusion is to
the preliminary exercises in the great Roman foot-race. While the
signal was waited for, the candidates made essays of jumping, running,
and posturing, to excite a suitable warmth and make their limbs supple.
This was “getting their foot in” for the race. (See Hand.)
I have the measure
or length of his foot. I know the exact calibre of his mind.
The allusion is to the Pythagorean admeasurement of Hercules by the
length of his foot. (See Ex Pede.)
To light on one's feet.
To escape a threatened danger. It is said that cats thrown from a
height always light on their feet.
To put down your foot on [a matter].
Peremptorily to forbid it. To show the cloven foot. To
betray an evil intention. The devil is represented with a cloven foot.
Turn away thy foot from the Sabbath (Isa. 1viii. 13). Abstain from
working and doing your own pleasure on that day. The allusion is to the
law which prohibited a Jew from walking on a Sabbath more than a mile.
He was to turn away his foot from the road and street.
Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour's house, lest he get weary of
thee, and so hate thee.
Never outstay your welcome.
With one foot in the grave.
In a dying state. You have put your foot in it nicely. You
have got yourself into a pretty mess. (In French, vous avez mis le
pied dedans.) When porridge is burnt or meat over-roasted, we say,
“The bishop hath put his foot in.” (See Bishop.)
Afoot.
On the way, in progress. (See Game's Afoot, Matter Afoot.)
Mischief, thou art afoot,
Take thou what course thou wilt.
Shakespeare: Julias Caesar, iii. 2.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Foot from Infoplease:
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