HEEL. ENGLISH VOCABULARY. 23-02-2011.

		heel 1 noun

NEW! See related topics: HUMAN

heel [countable]

1

of your foot

the curved back part of your foot [↪ toe]

2

of a shoe

the raised part on the bottom of a shoe that makes the shoe higher at the back:

black boots with high heels

high-heeled/low-heeled/flat-heeled etc

her low-heeled blue shoes

3

of a sock

the part of a sock that covers your heel

4

of your hand

the part of your hand between the bottom of your thumb and your wrist:

Using the heel of your hand, press the dough firmly into shape.

5

 heels

 [plural] a pair of women's shoes with high heels:

Whenever she wore heels she was taller than the men she worked with.

6

 at somebody's heels

if a person or animal is at your heels, they are following closely behind you:

He could hear the dog trotting at his heels.

7

a) 

(hard/hot/close) on the heels of something

very soon after something:

The decision to buy Peters came hard on the heels of the club's promotion to Division One.

b) 

(hard/hot/close) on somebody's heels

following closely behind someone, especially in order to catch or attack them:

With the enemy army hard on his heels, he crossed the Somme at Blanche-Taque.

8

 bring somebody to heel

to force someone to behave in the way that you want them to

9

 come to heel

British English

a) if a dog comes to heel, it comes back to its owner when the owner calls it

b) if someone comes to heel, they start to behave in the way that you want them to

10

 take to your heels

written to start running away:

As soon as he saw me he took to his heels.

11

 turn/spin on your heel

written to suddenly turn away from someone, especially in an angry or rude way:

Before anyone could say a word, he turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

12

 under the heel of somebody/something

completely controlled by a government or group:

a people under the heel of an increasingly dictatorial regime

13

bad man

old-fashioned a man who behaves badly towards other people

➔ Achilles' heel, down-at-heel, well-heeled

 ; ➔ click your heels

 atclick1 (1)

 ; ➔ cool your heels

 at cool2 (4)

 ; ➔ dig your heels in

at dig1 (4)

 ; ➔ drag your heels

 at drag1 (8)

 ; ➔ be/fall head over heels in love

 at head1 (36)

 ; ➔ kick your heels

 at kick1 (9)

LONGMAN DICTIONARY.