instep

Definitions

  • Measuring the instep
    Measuring the instep
  • WordNet 3.6
    • n instep the part of a shoe or stocking that covers the arch of the foot
    • n instep the arch of the foot
    • ***

Additional illustrations & photos:

Checking the instep measurement of the last Checking the instep measurement of the last
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
    • Instep That part of the hind leg of the horse and allied animals, between the hock, or ham, and the pastern joint.
    • Instep The arched middle portion of the human foot next in front of the ankle joint.
    • Instep The part of a shoe, boot, or stocking covering the instep{1}.
    • ***
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
    • n instep The arch of the foot; the highest part of the upper side of the human foot, near its junction with the leg; technically, the upper surface of the tarsus.
    • n instep Hence A corresponding part of the hind limb of some animals, as the front of the horse's hind leg from the hock to the pastern.
    • n instep In entomology, the first joint of an insect's tarsus when it is very long and broad; the planta.
    • ***
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
    • n Instep in′step the prominent upper part of the human foot near its junction with the leg: in horses, the hind-leg from the ham to the pastern joint.
    • ***

Usage

In literature:

They often wrote verses, and they also were given to arched insteps and eyes with very perceptible fringes.
"In Connection with the De Willoughby Claim" by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The socks in the illustration are of white wool with a pink seam up the instep and pink scallops around the top.
"Hand-Loom Weaving" by Mattie Phipps Todd
He does all his dancing on my insteps; and I dare not stop for fear of his still more dreadful spooning.
"Belford's Magazine, Volume II, No. 8, January, 1889" by Various
You can see that he is lounging on the grass, and at this moment, having raised his hand, it falls again, by chance upon her instep.
"Portia" by Duchess
To save the instep from jars, the slip noose may be padded like a cowboy's stirrup.
"The Story of the Trapper" by A. C. Laut
Such a graceful walk, such slender ankles, such an arched instep!
"A Struggle for Rome, v. 1" by Felix Dahn
One of them came actually to my feet, and even ran across my instep in his play.
"Arthur O'Leary" by Charles James Lever
The sand entered her shoes; the band across the instep of the left one broke.
"The Scarlet Banner" by Felix Dahn
Tight across the instep and pinches the toes awfully.
"Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 93. July 30, 1887" by Various
He wears high-heeled shoes, red heeled, perhaps, and the tongue of his shoe sticks up well above the instep.
"English Costume" by Dion Clayton Calthrop
In building a fire I strained my instep by kicking a limb from a log, and it became quite sore before the day was over.
"The Bright Side of Prison Life" by Samuel A. Swiggett
I was just telling this young lady if I had her instep I'd never wear anything but our dancing-shoes.
"Just Around the Corner" by Fannie Hurst
In 1776 my grandmother Beatriz was five years old, and even then, they say, water could run under her insteps.
"East Angels" by Constance Fenimore Woolson
One of the leaves boarded his foot as he looked, climbed up the instep, and made a pretty shifting pattern upon the silken toe.
"The White Plumes of Navarre" by Samuel Rutherford Crockett
It drove its spine or sting into the side of his instep, producing a jagged wound which bled profusely.
"With the World's Great Travellers, Volume 2" by Various
One side of the shoe and instep will now be made.
"My Knitting Book" by Miss Lambert
But before he could do so one wound itself around the instep of his boot.
"Three Young Ranchmen" by Ralph Bonehill
He felt the ball glance off each instep and pass behind him.
""Pip"" by Ian Hay
Hugh said the pain in his instep had gone, but that he would give much for something to eat.
"Among the Red-skins" by W.H.G. Kingston
Shoes were of the square form, some very short in front, held on by a strap across the instep, others with fronts to the instep.
"Dress design" by Talbot Hughes
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In poetry:

Or: men pslam. Man palms his ears and moans.
Death is a German expert. Scrambling, sitting,
spattering, we hurry.
I try to. Odd & trivial, atones
somehow for my escape a bullet splitting
my trod-on instep, fiery.
"Dream Song 41: If we sang in the wood (and Death is a German expert)" by John Berryman
They balance upon arched insteps like springing bridges of crimson lacquer;
they swing up over curved heels like whirling tanagers sucked
in a wind-pocket; they flatten out, heelless, like July ponds,
flared and burnished by red rockets.
"Towns in Colour" by Amy Lowell

In news:

Tietz, Flaws repeat as gold medal champions in InStep Icebreaker Indoor Marathon.
jsonline.com
InStep launches 10-month fun run series for charity.
jsonline.com
InStep Icebreaker Indoor Marathon becomes a circular sensation.
jsonline.com
"And the Foot Locker Footie award for Best Instep Measurement goes to …".
slweekly.com
STEP 1 Set cleats Slip on your shoes, run masking tape along the instep, and mark it at the widest point of your foot.
bicycling.com
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In science:

Table 1 shows that there exists significant difference (p < 0.05) in the height of instep, as well as a significant difference (p < 0.01) in the foot arch index and in the footprint-ratio index for both groups.
Natural gaits of the non-pathological flat foot and high-arched foot
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Related words