footwork

Everyday

1. The way a person moves their feet, especially in sports and dancing, as in «good footwork». tree →
2. (informal) Clever, quick actions to get out of a difficult situation, as in «some fancy footwork». tree →

In the lessons

In PE and sport, coaches train footwork for football, tennis, boxing, netball and dancing; quick footwork helps you dodge and balance. In stories and the news, «nifty footwork» can mean clever ways of avoiding trouble or difficult questions.

Examples

• The striker's quick footwork fooled the defender. tree →
• In netball, footwork rules say you can't run with the ball. tree →
• Our dance teacher made us practise the footwork slowly. tree →
• Boxers skip rope to improve their footwork. tree →
• With some fancy footwork, he got out of doing the washing up. tree →
• Good footwork helps you keep your balance. tree →

Note

Uncountable: «good footwork», not «a footwork». One word. In netball, «footwork» is also the name of a rule about stepping with the ball.