First recorded in 1175–1225, afoot is from Middle English a fote, on fote.See a-1, foot
Words nearby afoot
Afognak, à fond, Afonso, A fool and his money are soon parted, A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, afoot, afore, foregone conclusion, a, aforehand, aforementioned, aforesaid
Globally, it seems an experiment is afoot and with it the idea that prisons shouldn’t be hellholes since you only get one kind of person out of a hellhole and that’s not the person you should expect to return to polite society.
The Best Places to Be Locked Up If You Love Luxury|Eugene Robinson|October 7, 2020|Ozy
To see the company raise even more this quickly signaled that something was afoot.
Unqork’s $207M Series C underscores growing enterprise demand for no-code apps|Alex Wilhelm|October 7, 2020|TechCrunch
There are just these big changes afoot, and the question is how we’re going to manage them as a country.
Why Is This Man Running for President? (Ep. 362 Update)|Stephen J. Dubner|December 19, 2019|Freakonomics
The very fact that so many troops co-existed with so many militants meant some kind of complicated alliances were afoot.
Obama’s Deadly Informants: The Drone Spotters of Pakistan|Umar Farooq, Syed Fakhar Kakakhel|November 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Even the World Heath Organization, which has plenty to worry about in impoverished nations, knows there is big trouble afoot.
New Study Says Doctors Can’t “Just Say No” to Their Patients|Kent Sepkowitz|March 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The same impulse is afoot in less trendy parts of the country.
Ban E-Cigarettes? The Anti-Smoking Lobby's Clueless Crusade|Nick Gillespie|August 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
The game is afoot, and all concerned parties are watching closely to see how things play out.
The Government’s Perilous Bitcoin Chase|Michelle Cottle|July 25, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Those interested in Post palace intrigue, though, wondered if something else was afoot with the announcement.
New York Post Looks Thinner After News Corporation Split|David Freedlander|July 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And Athalie worked in her garden and strayed far afield, both driving and afoot.
Athalie|Robert W. Chambers
We knew some mischief was afoot, and they were so eager on it that we came up unnoticed.
The Free Rangers|Joseph A. Altsheler
Sometimes even a slouching rustic would be afoot on the road and would look after them, as after a flying phantom.
The Ball and The Cross|G.K. Chesterton
These men had been afoot since three, and certain units on the left had already marched over twenty miles.
First and Last|H. Belloc
To pass these vigilant sentinels, afoot and unarmed, was plainly impossible; and I soon banished the idea from my mind.
Seven and Nine years Among the Camanches and Apaches|Edwin Eastman
British Dictionary definitions for afoot
afoot
/ (əˈfʊt) /
adjective, adverb(postpositive)
in circulation or operation; astirmischief was afoot