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Glite Dictionary
instep

instep

5 3.7
The curved top part of the foot between the ball and ankle or the shoe part covering it
  • noun
  • /ˈɪnˌstɛp/
: empeine
  • I run faster, the leather of my shoes cutting into my instep, the balls of my feet burning from the impact, my lungs panting for air.
  • forefoot and instep
  • a low instep
  • a medium instep

And he was holding the arch of my foot and, and rubbing the instep with his thumb.

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Examples

  • So when you strike the ball... you want to make solid contact with your instep here.

    Gracie (2007)

  • We knew each other's toes, heels, insteps, and ankles.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • After all, a wooden leg is just kind of like wearing a shoe with a high instep.

    Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944)

  • Your foot, and all of your weight, lands firmly on the instep of another.

    Blog text (5)

  • The drag back, the instep touch into the air and the hook around with your shoelaces.

  • And he was holding the arch of my foot and, and rubbing the instep with his thumb.

    TED-Ed

  • "Comfortable?" asked Marla, who stood at the far end of the table, kneading Kathleen's left instep.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Jannie took a large splinter out of my instep, where I had dented a branch end-on.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • So what am I doing in this funky, spelunky southern Italian town anyway, lodged like a pebble in the instep of the Italian boot?

    Fiction book (2002)

  • To kick the ball effectively, aim to strike it with your instep for greater power.

Surface Forms

instep singular
insteps plural

Morphology

instep = step (semi-transparent) = in + step

The form is clearly 'in' + 'step' indicating a location on the foot, but the precise anatomical meaning ('curved upper part between the ball and the ankle') is a specialized body‑part sense not directly inferable by an average learner.

Etymology

The word instep comes from the parts in- meaning 'in' and step meaning 'step' or 'foot'. Think of the instep as the part 'in' your step—the curved upper part of the foot between the ball and the ankle that fits inside a shoe, which is why the word names that area.