shoehorn
Pronunciation Noun
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Pronunciation Noun
shoehorn
- A smooth tool that assists in putting the foot into a shoe, by sliding the heel in after the toe is in place. This reduces discomfort and damage to the back of the shoe. By slipping it into the back of the shoe behind the heel, the user prevents the heel from squashing down the back of the shoe and causing difficulty; instead the heel slides down the smooth shoehorn, which then comes out easily once the foot is in place.
- (derogatory) Anything by which a transaction is facilitated; a medium.
- (obsolete) Anything which draws on or allures; an inducement.
- shoeing-horn
- slipper spoon
- French: chausse-pied
- German: Schuhanzieher, Schuhlöffel
- Italian: calzascarpe, calzatoio, corno da scarpa, corno, calzante
- Portuguese: calçadeira
- Russian: ло́жка для обувь
- Spanish: calzador
shoehorn (shoehorns, present participle shoehorning; past and past participle shoehorned)
- (literally) To use a shoehorn.
- (transitive, figuratively) To force (something) into (a tight space); to squeeze (something) into (a schedule, etc); to exert great effort to insert or include (something); to include (something) despite potent reasons not to.
- I shoehorned his dozen burgeoning bags into the backseat of my tiny car, and off we went.
- His staff want to shoehorn an extra stop into his already packed campaigning schedule.
- 2012, The Economist, Oct 13th 2012 issue, Italian politics: Who will be Italy’s next prime minister? ↗
- A member of Mr Monti’s government admitted that, barring a hung parliament, it was impossible for the moment to see how Mr Monti could be shoehorned into politics after next spring.
- (transitive, figurative) To force some current event into alignment with a some (usually unconnected) agenda, especially when it is fallacious.
- People claiming to be psychic may shoehorn an event into fulfillment of some vague past prediction.
- German: ein Schuhlöffel benutzen
- Italian: calzare
- Portuguese: calçar com calçadeira
- Russian: испо́льзовать рожо́к
- Spanish: calzar
- French: forcer, enfoncer
- German: hineinzwängen, reinzwängen, reinquetschen
- Russian: вти́снуть
- Spanish: encajar, apretar, forzar, meter con calzador
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.005