Home UK English first-foot

Meaning of first-foot in English:

first-foot

Pronunciation

Translate first-foot into Spanish

verb

[with object]

  • Be the first person to cross the threshold of the house of (someone) in the New Year, in accordance with a Scottish custom.

    ‘they set out to first-foot their neighbours’
    • ‘It's February, and I've still not been first-footed from New Year yet.’
    • ‘But while these special editions are enjoyable in their own right, if you're expecting to be first-footed by a whisky connoisseur, it might be good idea to have a decent bottle of the straightforward stuff to hand.’
    • ‘Because the parents are involved, you feel you should offer out nips along with the sweeties… it's like being first-footed by the Addams Family.’
    • ‘Another says he went blindly first-footing, knocking on doors at random.’
    • ‘I come from Scotland, a place that starts each year with a lump of coal and a slice of Dundee cake, so I rather love the idea of first-footing with a fish.’
    • ‘Not sure quite how much first-footing will occur tonight, but if it ends up quiet, that's no bad thing.’

noun

  • The first person to cross a householder's threshold in the New Year.

    • ‘At every door in the street there is a shivering first-foot whose task, once the bells have chimed, is to enter and prevent the family from being prisoners in their own home.’