shoehorned; shoehorning; shoehorns
1
: to force to be included or admitted
shoehorned irrelevant arguments into his essay
2
: to force or compress into an insufficient space or period of time : squeeze
… shoehorn the past, present, and future into about 500 pages …—
Otis Port
Otis PortExamples of shoehorn in a Sentence
Verb
A parking garage has been shoehorned between the buildings.
She's trying to shoehorn a year's worth of classes into a single semester.
I don't know how they managed to shoehorn everyone into that little room.
Recent Examples on the Web
Josh Max, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
Penhaligon’s bath products, Riojas in the minibar and shoehorns by the safe hint at the hotel’s general leaning towards a frictionless, global-standard sort of five-star.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 14 Feb. 2026
ArsTechnica, 18 May 2026
In the meantime, without a spot to shoehorn in a Starliner docking, NASA nailed down its plans for cargo and crew missions for the remainder of 2026.
—Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 2 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for shoehorn
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Noun
The low seating position makes entry and exit a shoehorn proposition.
—Josh Max, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
Penhaligon’s bath products, Riojas in the minibar and shoehorns by the safe hint at the hotel’s general leaning towards a frictionless, global-standard sort of five-star.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 14 Feb. 2026
Verb
Too often, modern technologies, like inter-device connectivity and artificial intelligence, are shoehorned into gadgets that would be more intuitive to use, affordable, accessible, and/or durable without them.
—ArsTechnica, 18 May 2026
In the meantime, without a spot to shoehorn in a Starliner docking, NASA nailed down its plans for cargo and crew missions for the remainder of 2026.
—Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 2 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for shoehorn
Cite this Entry
“Shoehorn.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shoehorn. Accessed 29 May. 2026.
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