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
Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 9 Jan. 2026
This one is sure to be a treat for cinephiles, fans of whodunits and general audiences as filmmaker Rian Johnson amps up the intrigue, clever dialogue and shoehorns in a who’s who of Hollywood into the cast.
—Abid Rahman, HollywoodReporter, 1 Dec. 2025
Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 16 Jan. 2026
In typical Hollywood fashion, though, a spin on the concept just had to be shoehorned in here.
—Sergio Pereira, Space.com, 15 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for shoehorn
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Noun
And in ordinary academic buildings and offices tucked up in the corners of the athletic department, university registrars and academic advisors were setting their hair on fire, trying to figure out how to approve transcripts and shoehorn new students into classes that were already full.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 9 Jan. 2026
This one is sure to be a treat for cinephiles, fans of whodunits and general audiences as filmmaker Rian Johnson amps up the intrigue, clever dialogue and shoehorns in a who’s who of Hollywood into the cast.
—Abid Rahman, HollywoodReporter, 1 Dec. 2025
Verb
Williams is being shoehorned into a rotation that’s suddenly getting more crowded, providing coach Charles Lee with a good problem in the health department for once.
—Roderick Boone, Charlotte Observer, 16 Jan. 2026
In typical Hollywood fashion, though, a spin on the concept just had to be shoehorned in here.
—Sergio Pereira, Space.com, 15 Jan. 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 28 Jan. 2026.
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