Footwear is anything you wear on your feet to protect them or help you move. Shoes, boots, sandals, slippers, and sneakers are all types of footwear. Socks can count as footwear, though people usually use the word for things with soles that protect your feet from rough ground, hot pavement, or cold snow.

Different activities require different footwear. You wouldn't wear flip-flops to go hiking in the mountains, and you probably wouldn't wear heavy winter boots to the beach. Soccer players wear cleats with spikes on the bottom for traction on grass. Ballerinas wear special pointe shoes that let them dance on their toes. Rock climbers need footwear with sticky rubber soles that grip tiny ledges.

The right footwear can make a huge difference. Imagine trying to run a race in cowboy boots, or walking through a snowstorm in sandals. Throughout history, people have invented footwear suited to their environment: snowshoes for walking on deep snow, wooden clogs for muddy farm work, and moccasins made from soft leather.

When stores advertise their footwear department, they mean the section where all types of shoes and boots are sold together.