51Թ

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View synonyms for

shoehorn

[ shoo-hawrn ]

noun

  1. a shaped piece of horn, metal, or the like, inserted in the heel of a shoe to make it slip on more easily.


verb (used with object)

  1. to force into a limited or tight space:

    Can you shoehorn four of us into the back seat of your car?

shoehorn

/ ˈʃːˌɔː /

noun

  1. a smooth curved implement of horn, metal, plastic, etc, inserted at the heel of a shoe to ease the foot into it
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. tr to cram (people or things) into a very small space
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of shoehorn1

First recorded in 1580–90; shoe + horn
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“To shoehorn anything into tiny Disneyland is really hard,” Irvine says, adding, “A lot of people in merchandising would have preferred it was bigger.”

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For Saeed, seeing Theba play a cool, rich dad and hearing George use his natural accent, rather than being shoehorned into diminutive roles or changing their voices, was loaded with meaning.

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I'm a big Marcus Smith fan but there is no room to shoehorn people in at international level.

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In the past, these storylines would have undoubtedly influenced national conversations but for me, it felt like the issues were dealt with heavy-handedly and often felt shoehorned into plotlines.

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And in recent years, the oftentimes absurd incursion of loanwoards has become satirized in popular culture, with speech that needlessly shoehorns English in at every turn pejoratively referred to as “voguespeak” or “Pangyo dialect.”

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