footprint

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A footprint is an impression or mark made by your foot in the ground.

When you walk outside, you probably notice that there are some prints on the grass or sand from someone who passed through before. That's a footprint! It's not just about the shape of your shoe though - it can also refer to any kind of impact you make on the environment, like the carbon footprint you leave behind after driving a car. Some people even use it in a more abstract sense, talking about leaving a good or bad footprint in their community, meaning how they're remembered by others.

How common is "footprint"?

Word footprint is considered uncommon in modern English.
It has a balanced usage among all categories: speech, fiction, newspapers and academic texts.

Definitions

noun

The impression of the foot in a soft substance such as sand or snow.
Space required by a piece of equipment.
Example: This computer has a smaller footprint.
(computing) The amount of hard drive space required for a program.
(computing) The audit trail left by a crashed program.
A trace left behind that gives evidence of some action having occurred.
(figurative, in the plural) What a person has done before, as a profession or lifestyle, serving as a model for others.
Example: He is following in his father's footprints.
The surface space occupied by a structure.
Example: the footprint of a building
A company's geographic market presence.
Example: The store, which is slated to open next month, increases the company's footprint in the market to 14 locations.
(ecology) The ecological impact of a human activity, machine, etc.
Example: My carbon footprint is very high.
Availability of a satellite from the ground.
(cartography) A polygon representing the shape of an item.
Example: building footprint

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Real examples of "footprint" in context

What If We Dumped TRASH Into VOLCANOES?

Entertainment

And shipping all this trash to remote volcanoes? Yeah, that's going to generate a massive carbon footprint.

2:33

footprint

How common is "footprint"?

noun

Real examples of "footprint" in context

What If We Dumped TRASH Into VOLCANOES?

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