footpads

Noun

footpad (plural footpads)

1. The soft underside of an animal's paw.
2. A medicated bandage for the treatment of corns and warts.
3. (archaic) A thief on foot who robs travellers on the road.
   • The fraudulent clerk and the flash "cracksman" interchanged experiences. The smuggler's stories of lucky ventures and successful runs were capped by the footpad’s reminiscences of foggy nights and stolen watches.1874, Marcus Clarke, “chapter V”, in For the Term of His Natural Life
4. (Australia) An unmade, minor walking trail formed only by foot traffic.
   • Nemarluck, if wounded in the way described by the aborigines at Talc Head, will keep to the beaten footpad leading from Delissaville to the Finnis River, and in his weakened state, will not camp any night far from a waterhole or without a fire.1933 October 26, “Nemarluck badly wounded”, in Western Mail, Perth, W.A.: National Library of Australia, retrieved 23 Feb 2013, page 31

See all 6 meanings of footpad