splay·foot

(splā′fo͝ot′)

n. pl. splay·feet (-fēt′)

1. A physical deformity characterized by abnormally flat and turned-out feet.

2. A foot so affected.

splay′foot′ed adj.

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.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.

splayfooted - having feet that turn outward

splayfoot

pigeon-toed - having feet that turn inward

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References in periodicals archive

In interpreting this moment to be as aggressive as it is comically metamorphic, my reading takes its cue from Abel's persuasive comment that Lucy's "fantasied ancestors are rendered monstrous by their agglomerated parts"; in other words, by the fact that Grace becomes not merely a swamp creature but a "vast elephant-bodied, seal-necked, splayfooted, heaving, surging, slowly writhing, baying and [...] barking monster." It is also disquietingly unclear whether this moment is as fleeting as "glance" would suggest, given the suspension of "actual time" that is the prerequisite of this comic sketch.

When Freud gets useful: retaining the commonplace in Virginia Woolf's Pointz Hall

Conversely, a splayfooted (heels in, toes out) horse will wing in, and the striding leg may actually strike the supporting leg.

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For example, a splayfooted horse (feet turned out) bears more weight on the inside wall and heel than on the outside.

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