- heel
- [[t]hi͟ːl[/t]]
heels, heeling, heeled1) N-COUNT Your heel is the back part of your foot, just below your ankle.2) N-COUNT The heel of a shoe is the raised part on the bottom at the back.
He kicked it shut with the heel of his boot.
...the shoes with the high heels.
3) N-PLURAL Heels are women's shoes that are raised very high at the back....two well-dressed ladies in high heels...
...the old adage that you shouldn't wear heels with trousers.
4) N-COUNT The heel of a sock or stocking is the part that covers your heel.5) N-COUNT: N of n The heel of your hand is the rounded pad at the bottom of your palm.He shoved the heel of his hand against the side of my face.
6) → See also Achilles heel7) PHRASE If a person or an animal is at your heels, they are following close behind you.She strode off down the restaurant with Cavendish following close at her heels.
8) PHRASE: V inflects If you bring someone to heel, you force them to obey you.It's still not clear how the president will use his power to bring the republics to heel.
9) PHRASE: V inflects If someone such as a soldier clicks their heels, they make a sound by knocking the heels of their shoes together when saluting or greeting someone....a courtly European who still clicked his heels when he met a lady.
10) PHRASE: V inflects If you are cooling your heels, someone is deliberately keeping you waiting, so that you get bored or impatient. [INFORMAL]Cohen didn't mention that he had Ted Forstmann cooling his heels in a back room.
11) PHRASE: V inflects If you dig your heels in or dig in your heels, you refuse to do something such as change your opinions or plans, especially when someone is trying very hard to make you do so.It was really the British who, by digging their heels in, prevented any last-minute deal.
12) PHRASE: PHR after v, PHR n If you say that one event follows hard on the heels of another or hot on the heels of another, you mean that one happens very quickly or immediately after another.Unfortunately, bad news has come hard on the heels of good...
The visit follows hot on the heels of their season at the Edinburgh International Festival.
13) PHRASE: usu v-link PHR (emphasis) If you say that someone is hot on your heels, you are emphasizing that they are chasing you and are not very far behind you.They sped through the American southwest with the law hot on their heels.
14) PHRASE: V inflects If you are kicking your heels, you are having to wait around with nothing to do, so that you get bored or impatient. [BRIT, INFORMAL]The authorities wouldn't grant us permission to fly all the way down to San Francisco, so I had to kick my heels at Tunis Airport.
15) PHRASE: V inflects If you turn on your heel or spin on your heel, you suddenly turn round, especially because you are angry or surprised.He simply turned on his heel and walked away.
16) PHRASE: V inflects If you take to your heels, you run away. [LITERARY]He stood, for a moment, staring defiantly back at her, then took to his heels.
Syn:Phrasal Verbs:
English dictionary. 2008.
