footscraper

[ foot-skrey-per ]

noun

1. a metal bar, set in a small frame and attached to a doorstep, used in cleaning mud from the bottoms of the shoes before entering a house.

Word History and Origins

Origin of footscraper¹

An Americanism dating back to 1870–75; foot + scraper

Example Sentences

By nailing upturned bottle caps to a board, the kids can make a front-door footscraper.

From Time Magazine Archive

One notices at once the strange placing of the knob at the top rather than in the middle of the lock rail, and the footscraper in a separate block of marble in the sidewalk at one side of the marble steps, the inference being that one should scrupulously wipe his feet before approaching the door.

From Project Gutenberg