Foot vs. Leg — What's the Difference?
Edited by Tayyaba Rehman — By Fiza Rafique — Updated on October 29, 2023
The foot is the lower extremity of the leg that makes contact with the ground, while the leg is the limb extending from the hip to the ankle.
Difference Between Foot and Leg
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Both the foot and leg are crucial parts of the human anatomy, with each having distinct roles and structures. The foot serves as the base of support and is responsible for balance, while the leg enables movement and weight-bearing.
The foot, comprising the toes, arch, and heel, is intricately designed to absorb shock and propel the body forward during walking and running. The leg, on the other hand, houses major muscles like the quadriceps and hamstrings which facilitate movement.
When considering bone structure, the foot contains 26 bones including the tarsals, metatarsals, and phalanges. The leg primarily consists of two bones: the tibia and fibula, with the femur being part of the thigh, not the leg.
The functionality of the foot and leg are interconnected. For instance, issues in the foot can lead to discomfort or altered movement in the leg and vice versa. For example, flat feet or plantar fasciitis in the foot might lead to leg pain or altered gait.
In essence, while both the foot and leg are parts of the lower extremity, their anatomical compositions, functionalities, and roles in movement and support are distinct.
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Comparison Chart
Function
Supports body weight, aids in balance and propulsion.
Facilitates movement, supports body weight.
Components
Toes, arch, heel.
Tibia, fibula, muscles, ligaments, tendons.
Bones
26 bones including tarsals, metatarsals, phalanges.
Primarily tibia and fibula.
Issues
Plantar fasciitis, flat feet, bunions.
Fractures, shin splints, muscle strains.
Location
Lowest part of the leg, makes contact with the ground.
Extends from the hip to the ankle.
Compare with Definitions
Foot
A unit of linear measurement equal to 12 inches.
The room is ten feet in length.
Leg
The limb in humans and other animals that extends from the hip to the ankle.
He fractured his leg during a soccer match.
Foot
The rhythmic emphasis in poetry or music.
The poem had a distinct foot that resonated with the readers.
Leg
A part of a garment that covers the leg.
The leg of his jeans was torn.
Foot
The foot (plural: feet) is an anatomical structure found in many vertebrates. It is the terminal portion of a limb which bears weight and allows locomotion.
Leg
One of the supports on which an object stands.
The table leg was wobbly, so he fixed it.
Foot
The lower extremity of the leg below the ankle, on which a person stands or walks.
Leg
A section or stage of a journey or process.
The next leg of their trip is a flight to Paris.
Foot
A projecting part on which a piece of furniture or each of its legs stands.
Leg
The ability to run or last in sports, especially in horse racing.
The horse doesn't have the leg for such a long race.
Foot
The lower or lowest part of something; the base or bottom
Complete the form at the foot of the page
The foot of the stairs
Leg
A leg is a weight-bearing and locomotive anatomical structure, usually having a columnar shape. During locomotion, legs function as "extensible struts".
Foot
A unit of linear measure equal to 12 inches (30.48 cm)
He's about six feet tall
Shallow water no more than a foot deep
Leg
Each of the limbs on which a person or animal walks and stands
He was off as fast as his legs would carry him
Adams broke his leg
A leg injury
Foot
A group of syllables constituting a metrical unit. In English poetry it consists of stressed and unstressed syllables, while in ancient classical poetry it consists of long and short syllables.
Leg
Each of the supports of a chair, table, or other structure
The house was set on legs
Table legs
Foot
Cover a distance, especially a long one, on foot
The rider was left to foot it ten or twelve miles back to camp
Leg
A section or stage of a journey or process
The return leg of his journey
Foot
The lower extremity of the vertebrate leg that is in direct contact with the ground in standing or walking.
Leg
A branch of a forked object.
Foot
A structure used for locomotion or attachment in an invertebrate animal, such as the muscular organ extending from the ventral side of a mollusk.
Leg
The half of the field (as divided lengthways through the pitch) away from which the batsman's feet are pointed when standing to receive the ball
He played a lucky stroke to leg
Foot
The lowest part; the bottom:the foot of a mountain; the foot of a page.
Leg
A deferential gesture made by drawing back one leg and bending it while keeping the front leg straight.
Foot
The end opposite the head, top, or front:the foot of a bed; the foot of a parade.
Leg
Travel by foot; walk
I am part of a team legging it around London
Foot
The termination of the leg of a piece of furniture, especially when shaped or modeled.
Leg
Propel (a boat) through a tunnel on a canal by pushing with one's legs against the tunnel roof or sides
A little boy was lying on his back, legging the boat along
Foot
The part of a sewing machine that holds down and guides the cloth.
Leg
One of the limbs or appendages that an animal uses for locomotion or support.
Foot
(Nautical)The lower edge of a sail.
Leg
One of the lower or hind limbs in humans and other primates.
Foot
(Printing)The part of a type body that forms the sides of the groove at the base.
Leg
The part of the limb between the knee and foot in vertebrates.
Foot
(Botany)The base of the sporophyte in mosses and liverworts.
Leg
The back part of the hindquarter of a meat animal.
Foot
The inferior part or rank:at the foot of the class.
Leg
A supporting part resembling a leg in shape or function.
Foot
The part of a stocking or high-topped boot that encloses the foot.
Leg
One of the branches of a forked or jointed object.
Foot
A manner of moving; a step:walks with a light foot.
Leg
The part of a garment, especially of a pair of pants, that covers the leg.
Foot
Speed or momentum, as in a race:"the only other Democrats who've demonstrated any foot till now"(Michael Kramer).
Leg
(Mathematics) Either side of a right triangle that is not the hypotenuse.
Foot
(used with a pl. verb)Foot soldiers; infantry.
Leg
(Nautical) The distance traveled by a sailing vessel on a single tack.
Foot
A unit of poetic meter consisting of stressed and unstressed syllables in any of various set combinations. For example, an iambic foot has an unstressed followed by a stressed syllable.
Leg
The part of an air route or a flight pattern that is between two successive stops, positions, or changes in direction.
Foot
In classical quantitative verse, a unit of meter consisting of long and short syllables in any of various set combinations.
Leg
One of several contests that must be successfully completed in order to determine the winner of a competition.
Foot
Abbr. ft. or ftA unit of length in the US Customary and British Imperial systems equal to 12 inches (0.3048 meter). See Table at measurement.
Leg
(Sports) One stretch of a relay race.
Foot
FootsSediment that forms during the refining of oil and other liquids; dregs.
Leg
Legs The narrow streams of swirled wine or spirits that run slowly down along the inside of a glass, often believed to indicate that the liquid is full-bodied.
Foot
To go on foot; walk. Often used with it:When their car broke down, they had to foot it the rest of the way.
Leg
Legs(Slang) The ability to last or sustain success, especially by appealing to an audience
A blockbuster movie that has legs.
Foot
To dance. Often used with it:"We foot it all the night / weaving olden dances"(William Butler Yeats).
Leg
To go on foot; walk or run. Often used with the indefinite it
Because we missed the bus, we had to leg it across town.
Foot
(Nautical)To make headway; sail.
Leg
A limb or appendage that an animal uses for support or locomotion on land.
Insects have six legs.
Foot
To go by foot over, on, or through; tread.
Leg
In humans, the lower limb extending from the groin to the ankle.
Dan won't be able to come to the party, since he broke his leg last week and is now on crutches.
Foot
To execute the steps of (a dance).
Leg
(anatomy) The portion of the lower limb of a human that extends from the knee to the ankle.
Foot
To add up (a column of numbers) and write the sum at the bottom; total:footed up the bill.
Leg
A part of garment, such as a pair of trousers/pants, that covers a leg.
The left leg of these jeans has a tear.
Foot
To pay; defray:footed the expense of their children's education.
Leg
A rod-like protrusion from an inanimate object, such as a piece of furniture, supporting it from underneath.
The legs of a chair or table
Foot
To provide (a stocking, for example) with a foot.
Leg
(figurative) Something that supports.
This observation is an important leg of my argument.
Foot
A biological structure found in many animals that is used for locomotion and that is frequently a separate organ at the terminal part of the leg.
A spider has eight feet.
Leg
A stage of a journey, race etc.
After six days, we're finally in the last leg of our cross-country trip.
Foot
(anatomy) Specifically, a human foot, which is found below the ankle and is used for standing and walking.
Southern Italy is shaped like a foot.
Leg
(nautical) A distance that a sailing vessel does without changing the sails from one side to the other.
Foot
(often used attributively) Travel by walking.
We went there by foot because we could not afford a taxi.
There is a lot of foot traffic on this street.
Leg
(nautical) One side of a multiple-sided (often triangular) course in a sailing race.
Foot
The base or bottom of anything.
I'll meet you at the foot of the stairs.
Leg
(sports) A single game or match played in a tournament or other sporting contest.
Foot
The part of a flat surface on which the feet customarily rest.
We came and stood at the foot of the bed.
Leg
(geometry) One of the two sides of a right triangle that is not the hypotenuse.
Foot
The end of a rectangular table opposite the head.
The host should sit at the foot of the table.
Leg
(geometry) One of the branches of a hyperbola or other curve which extend outward indefinitely.
Foot
A short foot-like projection on the bottom of an object to support it.
The feet of the stove hold it a safe distance above the floor.
Leg
The ability of something to persist or succeed over a long period of time.
This proposal has no legs. Almost everyone opposes it.
Foot
A unit of measure equal to twelve inches or one third of a yard, equal to exactly 30.48 centimetres.
The flag pole at the local high school is about 20 feet high.
Leg
A disreputable sporting character; a blackleg.
Foot
(music) A unit of measure for organ pipes equal to the wavelength of two octaves above middle C, approximately 328 mm.
Leg
An extension of a steam boiler downward, in the form of a narrow space between vertical plates, sometimes nearly surrounding the furnace and ash pit, and serving to support the boiler; called also water leg.
Foot
Foot soldiers; infantry.
King John went to battle with ten thousand foot and one thousand horse.
Leg
In a grain elevator, the case containing the lower part of the belt which carries the buckets.
Foot
(cigars) The end of a cigar which is lit, and usually cut before lighting.
Leg
Denotes the half of the field on the same side as the batsman's legs; the left side for a right-handed batsman.
Ponsonby-Smythe hit a thumping drive through the leg fielders.
Foot
(sewing) The part of a sewing machine which presses downward on the fabric, and may also serve to move it forward.
Leg
(telephony) A branch or lateral circuit connecting an instrument with the main line.
Foot
(printing) The bottommost part of a typed or printed page.
Leg
(electrical) A branch circuit; one phase of a polyphase system.
Foot
(printing) The base of a piece of type, forming the sides of the groove.
Leg
(finance) An underlying instrument of a derivatives strategy.
Foot
(prosody) The basic measure of rhythm in a poem.
Leg
An army soldier assigned to a paratrooper unit who has not yet been qualified as a paratrooper.
Foot
(phonology) The parsing of syllables into prosodic constituents, which are used to determine the placement of stress in languages along with the notions of constituent heads.
Leg
(archaic) A gesture of submission; a bow or curtsey. Chiefly in phrase make a leg.
Foot
(nautical) The bottom edge of a sail.
To make the mainsail fuller in shape, the outhaul is eased to reduce the tension on the foot of the sail.
Leg
(journalism) A column, as a unit of length of text as laid out.
Foot
(billiards) The end of a billiard or pool table behind the foot point where the balls are racked.
Leg
To remove the legs from an animal carcass.
Foot
(botany) In a bryophyte, that portion of a sporophyte which remains embedded within and attached to the parent gametophyte plant.
Leg
To build legs onto a platform or stage for support.
Foot
(malacology) The muscular part of a bivalve mollusc or a gastropod by which it moves or holds its position on a surface.
Leg
To put a series of three or more options strikes into the stock market.
Foot
(molecular biology) The globular lower domain of a protein.
Leg
To apply force using the leg (as in 'to leg a horse').
Foot
(geometry) The point of intersection of one line with another that is perpendicular to it.
Leg
Alternative spelling of leg.
Foot
Fundamental principle; basis; plan.
Leg
A limb or member of an animal used for supporting the body, and in running, climbing, and swimming; esp., that part of the limb between the knee and foot.
Foot
Recognized condition; rank; footing.
Leg
That which resembles a leg in form or use; especially, any long and slender support on which any object rests; as, the leg of a table; the leg of a pair of compasses or dividers.
Foot
(transitive) To use the foot to kick (usually a ball).
Leg
The part of any article of clothing which covers the leg; as, the leg of a stocking or of a pair of trousers.
Foot
(transitive) To pay (a bill).
Leg
A bow, esp. in the phrase to make a leg; probably from drawing the leg backward in bowing.
He that will give a cap and make a leg in thanks for a favor he never received.
Foot
To tread to measure of music; to dance; to trip; to skip.
Leg
A disreputable sporting character; a blackleg.
Foot
To walk.
Leg
The course and distance made by a vessel on one tack or between tacks.
Foot
To set foot on; to walk on.
Leg
An extension of the boiler downward, in the form of a narrow space between vertical plates, sometimes nearly surrounding the furnace and ash pit, and serving to support the boiler; - called also water leg.
Foot
(obsolete) To set on foot; to establish; to land.
Leg
The case containing the lower part of the belt which carries the buckets.
Foot
To renew the foot of (a stocking, etc.).
Leg
A fielder whose position is on the outside, a little in rear of the batter.
Foot
To sum up, as the numbers in a column; sometimes with up.
To foot (or foot up) an account
Leg
Either side of a triangle distinguished from the base or, in a right triangle, from the hypotenuse; also, an indefinitely extending branch of a curve, as of a hyperbola.
Foot
The terminal part of the leg of man or an animal; esp., the part below the ankle or wrist; that part of an animal upon which it rests when standing, or moves. See Manus, and Pes.
Leg
A branch or lateral circuit connecting an instrument with the main line.
Foot
The muscular locomotive organ of a mollusk. It is a median organ arising from the ventral region of body, often in the form of a flat disk, as in snails. See Illust. of Buccinum.
Leg
A branch circuit; one phase of a polyphase system.
Foot
That which corresponds to the foot of a man or animal; as, the foot of a table; the foot of a stocking.
Leg
To use as a leg, with it as object
Foot
The lowest part or base; the ground part; the bottom, as of a mountain, column, or page; also, the last of a row or series; the end or extremity, esp. if associated with inferiority; as, the foot of a hill; the foot of the procession; the foot of a class; the foot of the bed; ; the foot of the page.
And now at footOf heaven's ascent they lift their feet.
Leg
A human limb; commonly used to refer to a whole limb but technically only the part between the knee and ankle
Foot
Fundamental principle; basis; plan; - used only in the singular.
Answer directly upon the foot of dry reason.
Leg
A structure in animals that is similar to a human leg and used for locomotion
Foot
Recognized condition; rank; footing; - used only in the singular.
As to his being on the foot of a servant.
Leg
One of the supports for a piece of furniture
Foot
A measure of length equivalent to twelve inches; one third of a yard. See Yard.
Leg
A part of a forked or branching shape;
He broke off one of the branches
They took the south fork
Foot
Soldiers who march and fight on foot; the infantry, usually designated as the foot, in distinction from the cavalry.
Leg
The limb of an animal used for food
Foot
A combination of syllables consisting a metrical element of a verse, the syllables being formerly distinguished by their quantity or length, but in modern poetry by the accent.
Leg
A prosthesis that replaces a missing leg
Foot
The lower edge of a sail.
Leg
Cloth covering consisting of the part of a garment that covers the leg
Foot
To tread to measure or music; to dance; to trip; to skip.
Leg
(nautical) the distance traveled by a sailing vessel on a single tack
Foot
To walk; - opposed to ride or fly.
Leg
A section or portion of a journey or course;
Then we embarked on the second stage of our Caribbean cruise
Foot
To kick with the foot; to spurn.
Foot
To set on foot; to establish; to land.
What confederacy have you with the traitorsLate footed in the kingdom?
Foot
To tread; as, to foot the green.
Foot
To sum up, as the numbers in a column; - sometimes with up; as, to foot (or foot up) an account.
Foot
To seize or strike with the talon.
Foot
To renew the foot of, as of a stocking.
If you are for a merry jaunt, I'll try, for once, who can foot it farthest.
Foot
A linear unit of length equal to 12 inches or a third of a yard;
He is six feet tall
Foot
The foot of a human being;
His bare feet projected from his trousers
Armored from head to foot
Foot
The lower part of anything;
Curled up on the foot of the bed
The foot of the page
The foot of the list
The foot of the mountain
Foot
Travel by foot;
He followed on foot
The swiftest of foot
Foot
A foot of a vertebrate other than a human being
Foot
A support resembling a pedal extremity;
One foot of the chair was on the carpet
Foot
Lowest support of a structure;
It was built on a base of solid rock
He stood at the foot of the tower
Foot
Any of various organs of locomotion or attachment in invertebrates
Foot
An army unit consisting of soldiers who fight on foot;
There came ten thousand horsemen and as many fully-armed foot
Foot
A member of a surveillance team who works on foot or rides as a passenger
Foot
A group of 2 or 3 syllables forming the basic unit of poetic rhythm
Foot
Pay for something;
Pick up the tab
Pick up the burden of high-interest mortgages
Foot the bill
Foot
Walk;
Let's hoof it to the disco
Foot
Add a column of numbers
Foot
The terminal part of the leg upon which an individual stands and walks.
He stepped on a sharp object and injured his foot.
Foot
The lower part or base of something.
The foot of the mountain is densely forested.
Foot
A device on a sewing machine for holding the fabric flat.
She changed the foot to stitch delicate fabric.
Common Curiosities
Which bones are in the foot?
The foot has 26 bones, including tarsals, metatarsals, and phalanges.
Are ankle issues considered foot or leg problems?
The ankle is the joint between the foot and leg, so issues could pertain to either or both.
How many bones are in the leg?
The leg primarily has the tibia and fibula.
Are the foot and leg the same thing?
No, the foot is the lower part of the leg that touches the ground, while the leg is from the hip to the ankle.
Can issues in the foot affect the leg?
Yes, problems in the foot can lead to leg pain or altered movement.
What muscles are found in the leg?
The leg houses muscles like the quadriceps and hamstrings.
Why is the foot arch important?
The foot arch aids in balance, weight distribution, and shock absorption.
Are there shoes designed for foot health?
Yes, orthopedic shoes can support foot health and address specific issues.
How do calf muscles relate to the leg?
Calf muscles are located at the back of the leg and aid in movement.
Why do people get foot massages?
Foot massages can relieve tension, improve circulation, and promote relaxation.
What does "leg" mean in a relay race?
In a relay, a "leg" refers to the portion of the race run by one individual.
What is "flat foot"?
Flat foot is a condition where the foot arch collapses or is very low.
How is "foot" used as a measurement?
"Foot" is a unit of length, equal to 12 inches.
Can leg pain originate from the back?
Yes, issues like sciatica in the spine can cause referred leg pain.
Are there exercises specifically for foot health?
Yes, exercises like toe curls or arch lifts can strengthen foot muscles.
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Written by
Fiza RafiqueFiza Rafique is a skilled content writer at AskDifference.com, where she meticulously refines and enhances written pieces. Drawing from her vast editorial expertise, Fiza ensures clarity, accuracy, and precision in every article. Passionate about language, she continually seeks to elevate the quality of content for readers worldwide.
Edited by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
