at one's feet

Preserved but no longer current.

Meaning · English

"To cast oneself at someone's feet" is to be entirely submissive to him, to throw oneself on his mercy.

Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)

Sources & notes

Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.

Common questions

What does “at one's feet” mean?

"To cast oneself at someone's feet" is to be entirely submissive to him, to throw oneself on his mercy.

Is “at one's feet” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.