πούς
I. "a foot", Lat. pes, pedis, Hom., etc.; in pl., also, a bird's "talons", Od.; "the arms" of a polypus, Hes.; ξύλινος π., of an artificial foot, Hdt.: phrases in respect to the footrace, περιγιγνόμεθ᾽ ἄλλων πόδεσσιν, to be better than others in running, Od.; ποσὶν ἐρίζειν to race "on foot", Il.; ποσὶ νικᾶν, ἀέθλια ποσσὶν ἄροντο Hom.:—the dat. ποσί is added to all kinds of Verbs denoting motion, ποσὶ βῆναι, δραμεῖν, ὀρχεῖσθαι, etc.; for πόδα βαίνειν, v. βαίνω A. II. 3:—metaph., νόστιμον ναῦς ἐκίνησεν πόδα started on its homeward way, Eur.
2. as a mark of close proximity, πρόσθεν ποδός or ποδῶν, προπάροιθε ποδῶν just before one, Hom.; πὰρ ποδί "close at hand", Pind.; but, παρά or πὰρ ποδός "off-hand, at once", Theogn.:—so, παρὰ πόδα "in a moment", Soph.; παρὰ πόδας Plut.:— ἐν ποσί, like ἐμποδών, "close at hand", Hdt., attic; τὰ πρὸς ποσί Soph.:—these phrases are opp. to ἐκ ποδῶν, out of "the way, far off", Hdt. (cf. ἐκποδών).
3. to denote close pursuit, κατὰ πόδας "on the track", Lat. e vestigio, id=Hdt., attic; c. gen. pers., κατὰ πόδας τινος ἔρχεσθαι, ἰέναι to come close "at his heels", Hdt.
4. various phrases: ἐπὶ πόδα "backwards, facing the enemy", ἐπὶ π. ἀναχωρεῖν, ἀνάγειν, ἀναχάζεσθαι to retire "leisurely", Lat. pedetentim, Xen.
b. περὶ πόδα, properly of a shoe, "round the foot", i. e. "fitting exactly", Theophr., Luc.
c. ὡς ποδῶν ἔχει as he is off "for feet", i. e. as quick as he can, Hdt.
d. ἔξω τινὸς πόδα ἔχειν to have "one's foot" out of a thing, i. e. be clear of it, ἔξω κομίζου πηλοῦ πόδα Aesch.; πημάτων ἔξω πόδα ἔχειν id=Aesch.:—opp. to εἰς ἄντλον ἐμβῆσαι πόδα, Eur.
e. to denote energetic action, ἀμφοῖν ποδοῖν, Ar.; βοηθεῖν ποδὶ καὶ χειρὶ καὶ πάσῃ δυνάμει Aeschin.; for ὀρθῷ ποδί, v. ὀρθός II.
5. πούς τινος, periphr. for a person, σὺν πατρὸς μολὼν ποδί, i. e. σὺν πατρί, Eur.; παρθένου δέχου πόδα id=Eur.:—also, ἐξ ἑνὸς ποδός, i. e. μόνος ὤν, Soph.; οἱ ἀφ᾽ ἡσύχου π., i. e. οἱ ἡσύχως ζῶντες, Eur.
II. metaph. of things, "the foot or lowest part", esp. "the foot of a hill", Lat. pes montis, Il., etc.
2. in a ship, πόδες are "the lower corners of the sail or the ropes fastened thereto, the sheets", Od.; χαλᾶν πόδα to slack away or ease off "the sheet", Eur.; τοῦ ποδὸς παριέναι to let go hold "of it", Ar.; ἐκπετάσαι πόδα (with reference to the sail), Eur.: —opp. to τείνειν πόδα, to haul "it" tight, Soph.; ναῦς ἐνταθεῖσα ποδί a ship with her "sheet" close hauled, Eur.
III. "a foot", as a measure of length, 4 palms (παλασταί) or 6 fingers, about 1/8 of an inch longer than our foot, Hdt., etc.
IV. "a foot" in Prosody, Ar., Plat.