footfall
noun

- the number of people who go into a shop or business in a particular period of time (Footfall is an important indicator of how successful a company’s advertising is at bringing people into its shops)

- the sound of a person’s foot hitting the ground as they walk (I heard echoing footfalls in the corridor)

Cambridge Dictionary

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ORIGIN

"Footfall" was first evidenced in 1611, in Shakespeare’s The Tempest (act 2, scene 2):

  “. . . like hedgehogs which
   Lie tumbling in my barefoot way and mount
   Their pricks at my footfall.”

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COMMON FOOT IDIOMS

- drag one’s feet = do something very reluctantly; delay doing something
- find one’s feet = adjust to a new place or situation
- jump in with both feet = begin a new experience wholeheartedly
- get cold feet = experience reluctance or fear
- vote with one’s feet = physically depart from something as a way of showing disapproval
- have a lead foot = have a tendency to drive very fast
- be on the back foot = be at a disadvantage
- put one’s foot down = use authority to insist on something

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GERMANS ONE STEP AHEAD?

Engineers from HSG-IMIT, a research centre in Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany, have built shoe-sized devices that harvest power from the act of walking.

There are two separate devices: a “shock harvester” that generates power when the heel strikes the ground and a “swing harvester” that produces power when the foot is swinging.

The technology could ultimately be used to power wearable electronic sensors without the need for batteries and lead to self-lacing shoes for the elderly.

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SYNONYMS for the sound made by footstep(s)

amble, canter, clip, clomp, clump, FOOTFALL, footstep, gallop, march, pace, plod, stamp, step, stomp, thump, tramp, trample, tread, trot, trudge

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SMUGGLE OWAD into a conversation today, say something like:

“Can you imagine intelligent flooring which generates electricity from every FOOTFALL?"

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THANKS to Jacqueline for suggesting today’s word!

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HERZLICHEN DANK to all readers helping me keep OWAD alive with single or monthly donations at:

https://donorbox.org/please-become-a-friend-of-owad-

Paul Smith