hooves

hooves — noun

1. The tough, horn-like material growing on the bottom part of the feet of horses,

1.nounB1
Definition

The tough, horn-like material growing on the bottom part of the feet of horses, cattle, deer, and similar grazing animals, protecting their feet from damage as they move across rough ground.

Example

The farrier checked each of the mare's hooves for cracks before fitting new shoes.

collocation: check hooves / farrier

Minho cleaned the mud from his horse's hooves after their evening ride.

Common collocations
  • trim hooves
  • check hooves
  • clean hooves
  • hooves of [animal]
  • cracked hooves
  • hard hooves
Synonyms
  • claw

    A claw is sharper and curved, found on birds, cats, and bears; a hoof is flat and blunt on large grazing animals.

  • nail

    A nail is the thin hard covering at the tip of human fingers and toes, much smaller and softer than an animal hoof.

Grammar Patterns

hooves of [animal]

animal's hooves

Usage Note

When referring to one animal's single hoof, use 'hoof' (singular). This sense describes the horny casing itself, not the whole foot.

Common Mistakes

The horse injured its foot.
The horse injured its hoof.
In English, the foot of a horse is called a 'hoof', not a 'foot'.

2. The whole foot of an animal such as a horse, deer, or cow, including the horny h

2.nounB1
Definition

The whole foot of an animal such as a horse, deer, or cow, including the horny hoof and the lower part of the leg that touches the ground.

Example

Saira watched the stallions' hooves pound the dirt track during the race.

collocation: hooves pound [surface]

David heard hooves approaching long before the riders came into view.

Common collocations
  • sound of hooves
  • hoof prints
  • lift hooves
  • [animal]'s hooves
  • pound [ground] with hooves
Synonyms
  • paw

    A paw is a soft, padded foot found on dogs, cats, and bears, with claws — quite different from a hard hoof.

  • trotter

    'Trotter' is an informal word for a pig's foot, especially when cooked as food.

Grammar Patterns

sound of hooves

[animal]'s hooves

Usage Note

Distinguish from sense 1 (HARD ANIMAL COVERING): sense 2 refers to the entire foot, not just the horny outer layer. Use this sense when describing movement, sound, or injury to the foot as a whole.

Common Mistakes

I cleaned the hooves of the horse's foot.
I cleaned the horse's hooves.
'Hoof' already includes the foot; adding 'foot' is redundant.
Idioms

on the hoof

idiom

While still alive and walking — used especially to describe meat that has not been slaughtered yet; also used informally to mean done quickly without much planning.

The farmer sold the cattle on the hoof rather than processing the meat himself.

Jack made a rough budget on the hoof while waiting for the bus to arrive.

hooves — verb

Word family

  • hoof
    nounB1
  • hoofed
    adjectiveB2
  • hoofbeat
    nounC1
  • hoofprint
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Hoof, claw, nail, and paw all refer to the hard or soft coverings at the ends of animal feet, but they describe very different structures. A hoof is a large, blunt, horny casing found on grazing animals like horses, cows, and deer. A claw is a sharp, curved, pointed structure on birds of prey, cats, and bears — used for catching food or climbing. A nail is the small, thin, flat plate at the tips of human fingers and toes. A paw is not a covering but the whole soft, padded foot of a mammal like a dog or cat, with pads underneath and claws on top. For example: 'The horse's hoof clicked on the pavement,' but 'The cat's claw scratched the sofa.'

hoof ↗claw ↗nail ↗paw ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • horse hooves
  • cow hooves
  • deer hooves
  • metal hooves
  • hoof prints
  • hoof beats
  • hoof care

Phrases

Prepositions

Etymology

Indo-EuropeanGermanicOld EnglishEnglish

Hoof comes from Old English 'hōf', which traces back to a common Germanic word found in Old Norse 'hōfr', Dutch 'hoef', and German 'Huf'. These all come from the Indo-European root *kop- meaning 'to beat, strike', referring to the pounding action of an animal's foot on the ground. The plural 'hooves' follows the pattern of words like 'roof → roofs/rooves' and 'wolf → wolves', where the -f changes to -v- before adding -es. This spelling reflects a pronunciation change that happened centuries ago in southern English dialects.

First known use

12th century

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1 Verb