FOOT encyclopedia topics

FOOT - 20 reference results

pound-foot: see foot-pound.

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Foot And Ankle Care
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foot-pound

foot-pound, abbr. ft-lb, unit of work or energy in the customary English gravitational system; it is the work done or energy expended by a force of 1 pound acting through a distance of 1 foot. It is equal to 1.356 joules. The term foot-pound is also used to designate a unit of torque that is sometimes called the pound-foot to distinguish it from the energy unit. A force of 1 pound applied 1 foot from and perpendicular to the direction to an axis of rotation produces a 1 foot-pound (or pound-foot) torque at the axis.

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foot-candle

foot-candle: see photometry.

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Foot Injury
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foot-and-mouth disease

foot-and-mouth disease, highly contagious disease almost exclusive to cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and other cloven-hoofed animals. It is caused by a virus that was identified in 1897. Among its symptoms are fever, loss of appetite and weight, and blisters on the mucous membranes, especially those of the mouth, feet, and udder. Discharge from the blisters is heavily infected with the virus, as are saliva, milk, urine, and other secretions. Thus the disease is readily spread by contact; by contaminated food, water, soil, or other materials; or through the air. Humans, who seldom contract the disease, may be carriers, as may rats, dogs, birds, wild animals, and frozen meats.

Quarantine, slaughter and complete disposal of infected animals, and disinfection of contaminated material, are prescribed to limit contagion. There is no effective treatment. With vaccines, introduced in 1938, and sanitary controls, foot-and-mouth disease has been excluded or eliminated from North and Central America, Australia and New Zealand, Japan, and Ireland; and occurrences have become infrequent in Great Britain and continental Europe. The disease persists through much of Asia, Africa, and South America.

See publications of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.

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foot

foot: see English units of measurement.

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Foot Injury
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foot

foot, in anatomy, terminal part of the land vertebrate leg. The term is also applied to any invertebrate appendage used either for locomotion or attachment, e.g., the legs of insects and crustacea, and the single locomotive appendage of the clam. Among land vertebrates, the foot includes the area from the ankle through the toes. In some animals, including humans, the weight is supported on the entire surface of the foot. Such animals are known as plantigrade. In digitigrade animals, e.g., the dog and cat, the weight is supported on a pad behind the toes, while the ankle and wrist areas remain elevated. Such animals as horses and cows that walk on a naillike structure (hoof) at the end of one or more toes are known as unguligrades. Like the hand, the human foot has five digits. However, it is less flexible and lacks an opposable digit (thumb) for grasping, as do the feet of most primates. The human foot consists of 26 bones, connected by tough bands of ligaments. Seven rounded tarsal bones (the internal, middle, and external cuneiform bones, navicular, cuboid, talus, and calcaneus) lie below the ankle joint and form the instep. Five metatarsal bones form the ball of the foot. There are 14 phalanges in the toes (two in the great toe and three in each of the others). The foot bones form two perpendicular arches that normally meet the ground only at the heel and ball of the foot (see flat foot); these arches are found only in humans. The use of the stride, a form of walking in which one leg falls behind the vertical axis of the backbone, is also a singular aspect of the human foot. The stride is thought to be an evolutionary advance from running, and is related to the unique structure of the human foot.

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flat foot

flat foot, condition of the human foot in which the entire sole rests on the ground when the person is standing. When the foot muscles are weakened or the ligaments are strained and stretched, the arch lowers, so that instead of the natural curved contour, there is flattening of the entire sole. Sometimes no discomfort accompanies flat foot. However, fallen arches may cause disalignment of other foot structures so that there is pain not only in the arch area but also in the calf muscles and sometimes as far up as the lower back; the discomfort is increased by prolonged standing. Flat foot may be inherited or may be caused by rickets, obesity, metabolic disorder, debilitating disease, or faulty footwear. Treatment and exercise directed by an orthopedic physician are sometimes advisable. Arch supports or other devices to be worn inside the shoe are often prescribed.

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elephant's-foot

elephant's-foot: see yam.

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athlete's foot

athlete's foot: see ringworm.

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Moore, George Foot

Moore, George Foot, 1851-1931, American biblical scholar, b. West Chester, Pa. In 1878 he was ordained in the Presbyterian ministry. He was professor of Hebrew (1883-1902) at Andover Theological Seminary and professor of theology (1902-4) and of religious history (1904-28) at Harvard. An eminent Asian scholar and a noted teacher, he wrote a number of books, including The Literature of the Old Testament (1913), History of Religions (Vol. I, 1913; Vol. II, 1919), Metempsychosis (1914), and Judaism in the First Centuries of the Christian Era (1927).

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Foot, Solomon

Foot, Solomon, 1802-66, U.S. Senator from Vermont (1851-66), b. Cornwall, Vt. He taught school, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1831. Foot served several terms in the state legislature and was in the U.S. House of Representatives (1843-47). His antislavery convictions carried him into the new Republican party. In the Senate he was recognized as a master of parliamentary law (he was often president pro tempore) and established many customs in the Senate's procedure.

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Foot, Samuel Augustus

Foot, Samuel Augustus, 1780-1846, American politician, b. Cheshire, Conn. He served as a Democratic Republican in the Connecticut legislature (1817-18, 1821-23, 1825-26) and in the U.S. House of Representatives (1819-21, 1823-25) before he was U.S. Senator (1827-33). In the Senate he became prominent by offering (1829) the Foot Resolution. He was again (1833) elected—this time a Whig—to the House of Representatives, but he resigned to become governor of Connecticut. His name appears sometimes as Foote.

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Foot, Michael

Foot, Michael, 1913-, British politician. He entered Parliament in 1945 and became a spokesperson for the Labour party's radical left wing. Editor of the party organ, the Tribune, he served as secretary of state for employment (1974-75) and as leader of the House of Commons (1976-79). He succeeded James Callaghan as Labour party leader (1980-83) and tried to maintain the party's traditional policies in the face of the opposition of more conservative members, who broke away and formed the Social Democratic party.

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Foot Resolution

Foot Resolution, offered in 1829 by Samuel Augustus Foot in the U.S. Senate. This resolution instructed the committee on public lands to inquire into the limiting of public land sale. The Jacksonian Democrats, who wished to encourage migration to the West, opposed the resolution; the New England manufacturing interests, who demanded a ready labor supply, backed it. When the Foot Resolution was introduced, the advocates of states' rights saw an opportunity to coalesce with the interests of the West. This touched off (1830) the dramatic debates between Robert Hayne and Daniel Webster.

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Bertha of the Big Foot

Bertha of the Big Foot: see Bertrada.

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foot-and-mouth disease (FMD)

or hoof-and-mouth disease

Highly contagious viral disease of cloven-footed mammals (including cattle), spread by ingestion and inhalation. The afflicted animal develops fever and painful blisters on the tongue, lips, other tissues of the mouth, muzzle or snout, teats, and feet. FMD is endemic in many places. Because of its rapid spread and impact on animal productivity, it is considered the most economically devastating livestock disease in the world. It is not a human health hazard. No effective treatment exists; vaccines control epidemics but have not eliminated them. Since the virus can persist, quarantine, slaughter, cremation or burial of carcasses, and decontamination must be rigorous. Strict surveillance has kept North America largely FMD-free since 1929. In early 2001 a major outbreak occurred in the United Kingdom, followed shortly by outbreaks in The Netherlands and France.

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foot, metrical

Basic unit of verse metre. Any of various fixed combinations or groups of stressed and unstressed (or long and short) syllables comprise a foot. The prevailing kind and number of feet determines the metre of a poem. The most common feet in English verse are the iamb, an unstressed followed by a stressed syllable; the trochee, a stressed followed by an unstressed syllable; the anapest, two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed syllable; and the dactyl, a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables. Seealso prosody.

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bird's-foot trefoil

Perennial, spreading, herbaceous legume (Lotus corniculatus) native to Europe and Asia but introduced to other regions. The stem grows to about 2 ft (60 cm) long. Its leaves consist of three oval leaflets, broadest near the tip. The yellow flowers (sometimes tinged with red) grow in clusters of 5 to 10. Often used as forage for cattle, it is occasionally a troublesome weed.

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Foot, Michael

(born July 23, 1913, Plymouth, Devon, Eng.) Leader of Great Britain's Labour Party (1980–83). He worked as a newspaper editor and columnist (1937–74) and served in Parliament (1945–55, 1960–92). He served in Harold Wilson's cabinet as secretary of state for employment (1974–76) and leader of the House of Commons (1976–79). A left-wing socialist, Foot became the party's chief in 1980 by defeating its right-wing candidate. This and other left-wing trends caused some Labourites to resign to found the Social Democratic Party. His books include Aneurin Bevan (2 vol.; 1962, 1973).

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.