Adjacent Words

shoehorn definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a device used for easing the foot into a shoe v
1: fit for a specific purpose even when not well suited

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Date: 1589 a curved piece (as of horn, wood, or metal) used in putting on a shoe II. transitive verb Date: 1859 1. to force to be included or admitted <shoehorned irrelevant arguments into his essay> 2. to force or compress into an insufficient space or period of time ; squeeze <shoehorn the past, present, and future into about 500 pages — Otis Port>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. a curved piece of horn, metal, etc., for easing the heel into a shoe.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Shoehorn Shoe"horn`, Shoeing-horn Shoe"ing-horn`, n. 1. A curved piece of polished horn, wood, or metal used to facilitate the entrance of the foot into a shoe. 2. Figuratively: (a) Anything by which a transaction is facilitated; a medium; -- by way of contempt. --Spectator. (b) Anything which draws on or allures; an inducement. [Low] --Beau. & Fl.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(shoehorns, shoehorning, shoehorned) 1. A shoehorn is a piece of metal or plastic with a slight curve that you put in the back of your shoe so that your heel will go into the shoe easily. N-COUNT 2. If you shoehorn something into a tight place, you manage to get it in there even though it is difficult. Their cars are shoehorned into tiny spaces... I was shoehorning myself into my skin-tight ball gown. VERB: be V-ed into n, V n into n