shoehorn

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)

2. to force into a limited or tight space: Can you shoehorn four of us into the back seat of your car?

noun

1. a smooth curved implement of horn, metal, plastic, etc, inserted at the heel of a shoe to ease the foot into it

verb

2. (tr) to cram (people or things) into a very small space

n.

1580s, from shoe (n.) + horn (n.); earlier shoeing-horn (mid-15c.).

v.

in the figurative sense of “to put or thrust (something somewhere) by means of a ‘tool,’ ” 1859, from shoehorn (n.). Earlier it meant “to cuckold” (mid-17c.), with a play on horn.