"extemporize on a piano," 1789, from vamp (n.1) "upper part of a shoe or boot," via verbal sense of "provide a stocking (later a shoe) with a new vamp" (1590s), then "patch up, repair" (compare revamp). Related: Vamped; vamping.

type of Celtic accent, 1705, perhaps from the meaning "rough, stout shoe" (made of rawhide and tied with thongs), of the type worn by rural Irish and Scottish highlanders (1580s), via Gaelic or Irish, from Old Irish broce "shoe." The footwear was "characteristic of the wilder Irish" [Century Dictionary], thus the noun might mean something like "speech of those who call a shoe a brogue." Or perhaps it is from Old Irish barrog "a hold" (on the tongue).

also shoe-box, "box in which a pair of shoes is packed," 1860, from shoe (n.) + box (n.). In reference to a type of large, blocky building, by 1968.

also road-work, 1765, "work done in making and repairing roads;" 1903 as "exercise done on roads;" from road (n.) + work (n.).

standard foot-measuring tool used for determining shoe size, patented 1926 and 1927 and named for its inventor Charles Brannock (1903-1992), son of the owner of a popular Syracuse, N.Y., shoe store.

"blocky, ungraceful," by 1968 (when it was the name of a style of women's shoe), from clunk + -y (2). Related: Clunkily; clunkiness.

also man-hole, "hole or opening in a floor, pavement, etc., through which a person may pass to gain access to certain parts for cleaning or repairing," 1793, from man (n.) + hole (n.).

"inner sole of a shoe or boot," 1838, from in + sole (n.1).

"upper of a shoe or boot," 1650s, earlier "part of a stocking that covers the foot and ankle" (c. 1200), from Anglo-French *vaumpé, from Old French avantpié "vamp of a shoe," from avant "in front" (see avant) + pié "foot," from Latin pes "foot" (from PIE root *ped- "foot").

also sabbaton, mid-14c., sabatoun, a type of armored foot-covering, in 15c. also the name of a shoe or half-shoe worn by persons of wealth, from Old French sabot "wooden shoe" made of one piece hollowed out by boring tools and scrapers, worn by the peasants (13c.), altered (by association with Old French bot "boot") from earlier savate "old shoe," ultimately from the same source (perhaps Persian ciabat) that also produced similar words in Old Provençal (sabato), Portuguese, Spanish (zapata), Italian (ciabatta), Arabic (sabbat), and Basque (zapata). French sabot has been borrowed directly into English from c. 1600.