AFOOT
What does "AFOOT" mean?
In progress or being secretly planned, especially something mischievous.
Meanings
- In the process of happening or being prepared, often secretly. There was clearly some plot afoot at the back table.
- On foot; walking rather than riding. In those days most travel was done afoot. archaic
Did you know?
- 'The game is afoot' is usually credited to Sherlock Holmes, but Shakespeare put nearly the same line in his history plays - 'Before the game is afoot' in 'Henry IV, Part 1' - roughly three centuries earlier.
Word origin
Formed from the prefix 'a-' ('on', from Old English 'on') plus 'foot'; the literal sense 'on foot' broadened into the figurative 'up and moving, in motion, underway'.
Remember it
AFOOT = something is up and ON its FOOT, ready to walk into the world.
A little poem
No alarm has sounded yet, no proof,
but the dog has lifted one slow ear -
the house can feel that something is afoot.
tercet
What it teaches
Before the deed there is always a hush; learn to read the quiet, for that is when things are afoot.
Quick facts
What does AFOOT mean?
In progress or being secretly planned, especially something mischievous.
Is AFOOT a valid word?
Yes — AFOOT is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is AFOOT?
AFOOT has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does AFOOT come from?
Formed from the prefix 'a-' ('on', from Old English 'on') plus 'foot'; the literal sense 'on foot' broadened into the figurative 'up and moving, in motion, underway'.
What can AFOOT teach us?
Before the deed there is always a hush; learn to read the quiet, for that is when things are afoot.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.