HEEL

• 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

  at click1 (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)

Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.