shoehorn

[ shoo-hawrn ]

/ ˈʃuˌhɔrn /

a shaped piece of horn, metal, or the like, inserted in the heel of a shoe to make it slip on more easily.

to force into a limited or tight space: Can you shoehorn four of us into the back seat of your car?

Origin of shoehorn

First recorded in 1580–90; shoe + horn

Even adults like to shoehorn their bottoms into a malleable rubber swing and take a ride down memory lane.

When An Adopted Child Won’t Attach |Tina Traster |May 2, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
It might difficult, however, to shoehorn Mourdock into the role of Tea Party wacko.

Richard Lugar Loses GOP Indiana Senate Primary by Landslide |Lloyd Grove |May 9, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
She is likely to shoehorn her pain into lugubrious scenarios that are perfect for country-music videos.

Battle of the Blondes |Bryan Curtis |January 28, 2010 |DAILY BEAST
He cant find a shoehorn with which to get into his breeches.

Conscript 2989 |Irving Crump

He had a shaven cranium, and his tight scalp might have been slipped over the bony bosses of his head with a shoehorn.

Old Junk |H. M. Tomlinson
Do you know that some mornings he has to get his hat on with a shoehorn.

Ulysses |James Joyce
Even if he had any flavor and wasn't tougher'n a shoehorn, he's too much for us to eat.

The Black Fawn |James Arthur Kjelgaard
He certainly has arrived at what a witty American friend of mine would call the "Shoehorn stage."

The London Mercury, Vol. I, Nos. 1-6, November 1919 to April 1920 |Various

shoehorn

/ (ˈʃuːˌhɔːn) /

a smooth curved implement of horn, metal, plastic, etc, inserted at the heel of a shoe to ease the foot into it

(tr) to cram (people or things) into a very small space