SHOE, noun plural shoes.

1. A covering for the foot, usually of lether, composed of a thick species for the sole, and a thinner kind for the vamp and quarthers. Shoes for ladies often have some kind of cloth for the vamp and quarters.

2. A plate or rim of iron nailed to the hoof of a horse to defend it from injury; also, a plate of iron for for an ox's hoof, one for each division of the hoof. Oxen are shod in New England, sometimes to defend the hoof from injury in stony places, more generally to enable them to wald on ice, in which case the shoes are armed with sharp points. This is called calking.

3. The plate of iron which is nailed to the bottom of the runner of a sleigh, or any vehicle that slides on snow in the winter.

4. A piece of timber fastened with pins to the bottom of the runners of a sled, to prevent them from wearing.

5. Something in form of a shoe

6. A cover for defense.

Shoe of an anchor, a small block of wood, convex on the back, with a hole to receive the point of the anchor fluke; used to prevent the anchor from tearing the planks of a ship's bow, when raised or lowered.

SHOE, verb transitive preterit tense and participle passive shod.

1. To furnish with shoes; ot put shoes on; as, to shoe a horse or an ox; to shoe a sled or sleigh.

2. To cover at the bottom.

To shoe an anchor, to cover the flukes with a broad triangular piece of plank whose area is larger than that of the fluke. This is intended to give the anchor a stronger hold in soft grounds.