digitigrade
/ˈdɪdʒɪtɪˌɡɹeɪd/
digitigrade means of an animal: walking on the toes, putting the weight of the body mainly on the ball of the foot, with the back of the foot, or heel, raised.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, digitigrade ranks #4,176 of 17,150 for Funniest Words.
digitigrade is pronounced /ˈdɪdʒɪtɪˌɡɹeɪd/.
Why “digitigrade” is a great word
Walking on the toes with the heel permanently raised, as in cats, dogs, and most predatory mammals. From French digitigrade, from Latin digitus ("finger, toe, digit") + -grade ("gait"), modeled on New Latin digitigradus; first attested in English in the early 19th century. Unlike plantigrade (the flat-footed, whole-sole tread of humans and bears) or unguligrade (the percussive, hoof-tipped gait of horses and deer), digitigrade is the tense, anticipatory posture of the stalker. It is the silent, spring-loaded descent of a housecat from a windowsill, the coiled tension in the haunches of a wolf moments before the chase, and the soundless, weight-distributing pads that leave only faint impressions in the dust—an anatomy of perpetual readiness, forever on the balls of its feet.
Etymology
From French digitigrade, from Latin digitus (“finger, toe, digit”) + -grade (“gait”); compare New Latin digitigradus.
adj
- Of an animal: walking on the toes, putting the weight of the body mainly on the ball of the foot, with the back of the foot, or heel, raised.
- Of feet or a manner of walking: of, resembling, or pertaining to that of a digitigrade animal.
- Belonging to the Digitigrada of the taxonomic order Carnivora.
noun
- A digitigrade animal; an animal that walks on its toes, such as a cat or a dog.
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