(also cloven foot)
Definition of cloven hoof in English:
1The divided hoof or foot of ruminants such as cattle, sheep, goats, and deer.
- Artiodactyls are characterized by the presence of two enlarged toes forming a cloven hoof; the hoof of a goat or cow is anatomically the enlarged third and fourth toes.
- The movement restriction zones apply to all cloven hoof animals, including pigs, sheep, goats and cattle, and will remain in place pending further investigation.
- Aristotle gave a brief description of two animals, one with a cloven hoof and one with a solid hoof.
1.1A cloven hoof ascribed to a satyr, the god Pan, or to the Devil, sometimes used as a symbol or mark of the latter: figurative sometimes he shows the cloven hoof of the chanson writer
More example sentences
- At least, I initially thought it was a horse, judging from his muzzle, but he had a graceful white body with delicate cloven feet, a long sinuous tail and a single golden horn rising from his forehead.
- You could see the disappointment registering on the faces of the morbid crowd when they realised we had not grown horns on our foreheads or cloven feet.
- And to clench matters, many depictions of John actually show him with the lower torso of a satyr, cloven hooves and all!
- Example sentences
- But the ‘Devil’ revealed here is not the cloven-footed demon of medieval folklore, nor yet his murderous human servants.
- The disease can spread at an alarming rate and affects all cloven-footed animals, including cattle, sheep, goats and deer.
- Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious, acute viral infection that affects cloven-footed mammals, causing small blisters and erosions in the mouth and on the feet and udders.
- Example sentences
- Foot-and-mouth disease - which strikes cloven-hoofed animals such as sheep, pigs and cows - is easily spread among afflicted animals and can also become airborne.
- The showpiece agricultural event was cancelled two years ago because of the outbreak, and continued restrictions last year led to the absence of cloven-hoofed animals.
- Restrictions last year led to the absence of cloven-hoofed animals but this time cattle, sheep and goats are all returning.
Definition of cloven hoof in:
- US English dictionary
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