Meaning & use
court shoes
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Meanings
nounpluralBritish
Women's shoes with a plain front and a raised heel, worn for formal or smart occasions.
Grammar: Always plural in form; use a plural verb: 'The court shoes are new.' For one item say 'a pair of court shoes'.
Patterns
- a pair of court shoes
- wear court shoes
- court shoes with a low heel
She wore black court shoes to the interview.
These court shoes are comfortable enough for a long day at work.
He bought her a pair of navy court shoes for the wedding.
nounplural
In sports, shoes with flat rubber soles designed for playing tennis or similar indoor court games.
Grammar: Also plural only; the context (sport) makes the meaning clear.
Patterns
- tennis court shoes
- indoor court shoes
The club requires white court shoes on the indoor courts.
Good court shoes grip the floor and protect your ankles.
Common combinations
- a pair of court shoes
- I need a pair of court shoes for the ceremony.
- black court shoes
- Black court shoes go with almost any formal outfit.
- high-heeled court shoes
- She changed into high-heeled court shoes at the office.
- wear court shoes
- Staff are asked to wear court shoes, not trainers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pumps
- The usual American word for the same smart women's shoe; 'court shoes' sounds British.
- heels
- Informal and refers only to shoes with a high heel, whereas court shoes may have a low one.
Word family
- court noun
- A playing area for tennis, basketball and similar sports.
Commonly confused: court shoes or tennis shoes?
court shoes vs tennis shoes
In American English 'tennis shoes' means everyday sneakers, not the smart shoes called court shoes in Britain.
Practice
In British English, which sentence uses 'court shoes' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Court shoes' is plural, so it takes a plural verb and no article 'a'; option 0 is natural, while option 2 breaks agreement and option 3 wrongly uses the singular article.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “court shoes”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.