# footed

/ˈfʊtɪd/ (US) · /fˈʊtɪd/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/footed
Updated: 2026-08-27

## Senses

### 1. paid for something

verb · CEFR B2

paid for a bill or a cost, especially when it was expensive.

For teachers: the past tense of 'foot', meaning to have settled a bill or covered the cost of something.

- My parents footed the bill for my entire university education.
- The insurance company eventually footed the bill for the repairs, though only after months of legal disputes regarding the policy's fine print.

Usage: Usually appears in the idiom 'footed the bill'.

### 2. having specific feet

adjective · CEFR B2

having a particular kind of foot or a certain number of feet.

For teachers: possessing feet of a specified type or number; almost exclusively used in hyphenated compounds.

- The four-footed animal ran quickly through the tall grass.
- The biologist studied several species of web-footed birds to understand how they had adapted to the local marshland environment.

Usage: Typically functions as a combining form in compound adjectives like 'flat-footed' or 'sure-footed'.

### 3. poetry rhythm

adjective · CEFR C2 · Technical · Literary

having a specific number of beats or 'feet' in a line of poetry.

For teachers: relating to the number or type of metrical feet in a verse.

- The poem was written in six-footed lines of verse.
- The scholar argued that the poet's use of five-footed lines created a rhythmic tension that mirrored the poem's dark themes.

Usage: Used in the context of prosody and poetic analysis.

## Examples

- My parents footed the bill for my university tuition.
- The local government eventually footed the bill for the emergency repairs after the storm damaged the bridge.
- While the corporation initially promised to cover all relocation costs, the employees found themselves footing the bill for several hidden fees that were not mentioned in the original contract.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.