footpad [foo t-pad] ExamplesWord Origin See more synonyms for footpad on Thesaurus.com noun
- a highwayman or robber who goes on foot.
verb (used without object), foot·pad·ded, foot·pad·ding.
- to proceed stealthily on foot.
Origin of footpad First recorded in 1675–85; foot + pad2 Related Words for footpad outlaw, desperado, thief, highwayman, bandit, soldier, pirate, robber, marauder, pillager, footpad, freebooter, crook, criminal, brigand, rider Examples from the Web for footpad Contemporary Examples of footpad
What if a footpad started sinking into the moondust, or the Eagle sprung a leak?
The Daily Beast
July 19, 2009
Historical Examples of footpad
The young lord did what he pleased, and spoke his mind as plainly as the footpad.
Frank Harris
That is why, to save my life, I had to be an incendiary at times, and at others a footpad.
Ameen Rihani
I was assaulted by a footpad near Abrantes, as if I was worth robbing.
Rafael Sabatini
Was he going to be strangled like a clerk at the hands of a footpad?
Frederick Orin Bartlett
You are only a footpad, a simple-minded marquis of the bludgeon.
Stephen Crane
British Dictionary definitions for footpad footpad noun
- archaic a robber or highwayman, on foot rather than horseback
Word Origin and History for footpad n.
“highway robber,” 1680s, from foot (n.) + pad “pathway,” from Middle Dutch pad “way, path,” from Proto-Germanic *patha- “way, path” (see path).