foot·fall

(fo͝ot′fôl′)

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

footfall

(ˈfʊtˌfɔːl)

1. the sound of a footstep

2. the number of visitors to a shop or tourist attraction

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

foot•fall

(ˈfʊtˌfɔl)

n.

the sound of footsteps.

[1600–10]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

footfall - the sound of a step of someone walking; "he heard footsteps on the porch"

footstep, step

sound - the sudden occurrence of an audible event; "the sound awakened them"

tramp - a heavy footfall; "the tramp of military boots"

footfall

noun

The act or manner of going on foot:

footstep, step, tread.

Translations

passo rumore di passi

footfall

[ˈfʊtfɔːl] N → paso m, pisada f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

footfall

[ˈfʊtfɔːl] n (= footstep) → (bruit m de) pas m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

footfall

[ˈfʊtˌfɔːl] n → passo

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Always of a sedate, taciturn disposition, he now fell into so deep a dejection that nothing could hold his attention, yet anything--a footfall, the sudden closing of a door--aroused in him a fitful interest; one might have called it an apprehension.

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I found the hot stream broadened out to a shallow, weedy sand, in which an abundance of crabs and long-bodied, many-legged creatures started from my footfall. I walked to the very edge of the salt water, and then I felt I was safe.

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A waste of unused passages and staircases in which to drop a comb upon a bedroom floor at night is to send a stealthy footfall on an errand through the house.

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Again I remarked his lameness and the soft padding sound of his footfall, and standing up in my place, I saw his feet as he went out.

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The Company had marched to the turn of the road ere Sir Nigel Loring rode out from the gateway, mounted on Pommers, his great black war-horse, whose ponderous footfall on the wooden drawbridge echoed loudly from the gloomy arch which spanned it.

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Maggie obeyed, wondering; but her father gave no further orders, and only sat listening for Tom's footfall on the gravel, apparently irritated by the wind, which had risen, and was roaring so as to drown all other sounds.

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It was a pine wood, with so thick and soft a carpet of brown needles that one's footfall made no more sound than if he were treading on wool; the tree-trunks were as round and straight and smooth as pillars, and stood close together; they were bare of branches to a point about twenty-five feet above-ground, and from there upward so thick with boughs that not a ray of sunlight could pierce through.

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It was coming towards them at a swift pace, so they turned and ran, taking care to make as little noise as possible, either by their footfalls or by disturbing the undergrowth close to them.

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While so engaged he was half conscious of the rapid opening and closing of the outer door, of footfalls sounding all about him.

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The statuettes and pictures in Eva's room were shrouded in white napkins, and only hushed breathings and muffled footfalls were heard there, and the light stole in solemnly through windows partially darkened by closed blinds.

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Soon we could hear their footfalls as they ran and the cracking of the branches as they breasted across a bit of thicket.

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"What does ten to six mean?" Genevieve asked, the while their footfalls rang out on the frosty air.

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