Footful
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 An amount that can be picked up by one foot.
"Mrs. Terrapin, having selected a place to her liking, moistens the hard clay, then alternately with the sharp claws of her hind feet, begins scraping out a hole about two inches across, lifting the moist earth, footful after footful."
- 2 A quantity (of something) that covers the foot.
"I well remember, in school on a winter's day, looking up and observing some boy or girl, with painful grimaces, surreptitiously caressing a footful of empurpled chilblains."
- 3 The amount of pressure that can be exerted by pressing with one foot.
"A fast getaway with a real footful of throttle causes fierce wheelspin and decided judder from the rear axle, ..."
- 4 A complete set of toes for one foot.
"Then I lifted out my leg with a fine footful of toes"
- 5 A small number, about five. humorous
"One of the feetful of marathons that are a study of efficiency, Berlin also boasts supportive crowds and tremendous excitement."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 As much as one can handle, especially of something handled with one's feet. humorous
"'Ah've just about had a bellyful of you.' 'An' Ah've had a footful of you, friend.'"
Example
More examples"Mrs. Terrapin, having selected a place to her liking, moistens the hard clay, then alternately with the sharp claws of her hind feet, begins scraping out a hole about two inches across, lifting the moist earth, footful after footful."
Etymology
From foot + -ful.
More for "footful"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.