English

Adjective

flat-footed

1. having feet which are flat

   Bears are flat-footed animals.

2. (of humans) having the specific physical condition of flat feet
   • 1973, Jaroslav Hašek, The Good Soldier Švejk, translated by Cecil Parrott, London: Heinemann, Part II, Chapter 4, p. 385,

     […] the volunteer from the 9th company was shot because he wouldn't advance and made the excuse that he had swollen legs and was flat-footed.

3. (idiomatic) unprepared to act

   They caught us flat-footed.

4. Holding firmly and maintaining a decision; to standing on one's ground.

   1892 Frank Millet: "I write in this way to urge you to be explicit and flat-footed in your wishes." Quoted in: 2003 Erik Larson, The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America, ISBN 0609608444, page 177.

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