Emily Dickinson Lexicon

hoof (-s), n. [OE hóf < Germanic.] (webplay: horses).

1. Foot; hard covering of a horse's feet; [metonymy] leg of a quadruped; [metaphor] mount; racing animal; beast that a person travels with; (see Isaiah 5:28).
2. Pounding noise; repeated rhythmic sound; [fig.] toll; marked signal of the passage of time; [metaphor] gallop; rapid movement; [kenning: “Hoofs of the Clock”] minutes; quick-paced temporal units.