hoof

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).

noun

1. The tip of a toe of an ungulate such as a horse, ox or deer, strengthened by a thick keratin covering.
2. (slang) The human foot.
   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. 1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka, Eland, published 2019, page 110
3. (geometry, dated) An ungula.

verb

1. To trample with hooves.
2. (colloquial) To walk.
3. (informal) To dance, especially as a professional.
4. (colloquial, football (soccer), transitive) To kick, especially to kick a football a long way downfield with little accuracy.