Word.ws English Dictionary

on the hoof

on the hoof prepositional phrase: of livestock, not yet butchered.

Prepositional phrase

  1. Of livestock, not yet butchered.
    • […]he is hereby directed to purchase, and have in Readiness by the First Day of July next, Two Hundred good draught Horses, Thirty Hogsheads of Rum, Ninety Thousand Weight of Beef on the Hoof, Hides included,[…]1780, [Act and resolves]. At the general assembly of the state of Rhode Island and Providence plantations
    • A 150-pound whitetail on the hoof can be reduced to 100 pounds of pure meat.1990, A.D. Livingston, Venison Cookbook
  2. (idiomatic) Alive; embodied in a living animal (including a human); in working order.
    • Barely 10% of the country's corn crop ever goes into commercial channels to become breakfast cereal, corn starch or oil. Less than 25% ever leaves the farm where it was grown - until it leaves on the hoof.1956, John Weston Walch, Complete Handbook on Farm Policy, volume 2, page 212
    • In 1920, votes at the Republican National Convention were selling at $2,500 on the hoof.1958, American Capsule News, page 25
  3. (idiomatic) Of a human activity, while standing, walking, or running; on foot.
    • Upon the breaking out of the Rebellion in that Country in 1641, the Mother fled with our Author and another Child towards England, and landing at Leverpoole in Lancashire, they all beated it on the hoof thence to London,[…]1691, Anthony Wood, Athenae Oxonienses: An Exact History of All the Writers and Bishops Who […]
    • Look at this crowd! Bound to be a lot of pussy on the hoof in a crowd like this.2005, Brokeback Mountain, 00:52:30
  4. (UK, idiomatic, informal) Without proper thought or preparation; done as one goes.
    • Near-synonym: extempore
    • But billets need not be a great issue, and it is possible that, apart from the first and last nights, choice can be made 'on the hoof'. When on the road, consultation with the map and the clock will indicate when to start looking.1990, Lewis Childs, Kimberley

Examples of on the hoof in a sentence

  • It seems to me that the university degrees as I see them on the hoof in Calgary at any rate serve to widen the gulf between the people who need help and the people who are there to help.1970, Canada. Parliament. Senate. Special Committee on Poverty, Proceedings of the Special Senate Committee on Poverty, page 22:
  • Stray German cavalry horses are pastured along with many cows in the lush grassland around our tents, and fresh milk is delivered to our doorsteps on the hoof.1978, Karl Swindt, 429th Fighter Squadron, the "Retail" Gang, page 98:
  • Most of the steamers are being "sold on the hoof" to the larger scrap dealers.1986, Don Ball, The Pennsylvania Railroad, 1940s-1950s, page 139:
  • To make such an expensive commitment without properly thinking about how best to help travellers on low incomes shows that the policy was developed on the hoof.2020 January 2, Christian Wolmar, Rail, page 70:

Synonyms of on the hoof

Origin of on the hoof

The literal sense concerning livestock has no more to it as a sum of parts than the corresponding sense of on foot does. A reference to humans being on the hoof occurs in a text from England in 1691.

Words formed from on the hoof

Questions about on the hoof

What does on the hoof mean?
On the hoof means of livestock, not yet butchered.
How do you use on the hoof in a sentence?
It seems to me that the university degrees as I see them on the hoof in Calgary at any rate serve to widen the gulf between the people who need help and the people who are there to help.
What part of speech is on the hoof?
On the hoof is a prepositional phrase.

Words near on the hoof in the dictionary

  1. on the heels of
  2. on the high rope
  3. on the high ropes
  4. on the hog
  5. on the hog train
  6. on the hoof
  7. on the hook
  8. on the hop
  9. on the horizon
  10. on the horn
  11. on the horns of a dilemma

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: on the hoof (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “on the hoof.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/on_the_hoof. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.