heel 
4. The hinder and lower part of a shoe or 
stocking. In a stocking it includes the lower as well as 
the back part ; in a shoe it is properly restricted to the 
lower or bottom part, usually formed of a series of pieces 
of leather called lifts or laps, the part which covers the 
hind part of the foot being called the quarters. See quar- 
ter and heel-tap, and cut under boot. 
His wife rustled by his side in brocade which might al- 
most stand alone for stiffness, propped upon heels that 
gave a majestic altitude to her tall, thin figure. 
H. B. Stowe, Oldtown, p. 50. 
5. pi. Footsteps; course. 
Where death and danger dog the heels of worth. 
Shak., All's Well, iii. 4. 
Let us address to tend on Hector's heels. 
Khak., T. and C., iv. 4. 
At one's heels, close behind ; following closely. 
More true joy Marcellus exiled feels 
Than Cresar with a senate at his heel*. 
Pope, Essay on Man, iv. 258. 
At the hard heelst, very close behind. Hares. 
Sirrah ! Robin ! we were best look that your devil can 
answer the stealing of this same cup, for the vintner's boy 
follows us at the hard heels. Marlowe, Faustus. 
Down at heel or heels, having the heels or back part of 
the shoes turned down ; in a slipshod condition ; hence, 
in a slovenly or embarrassed condition of any kind ; used 
adjectively, slipshod ; slovenly ; seedy. 
Sneak into a corner, . . . down at heels and out at el- 
bows. Gentleman Instructed, p. 212. 
To prowl about ... in the old slipshod, purposeless, 
down-at-heel way. Dickens. 
Fray'd i' the knees, and out at elbow, and bald o' the 
back, and bursten at the toes, and down at heels. 
Tennyson, Queen Mary, i. 1. 
Heel Of the hand, the prominence formed at the inner 
side of the junction of the hand with the wrist, when the 
hand is strongly bent backward ; that part of the hand 
which corresponds to the heel as the palm corresponds 
to the sole. 
The heel of the operator's hand will be used for vigor- 
ous friction of the palm. 
Suck's Handbook of Med. Sciences, IV. 645. 
Heels O'er gowdy, heels over head. [Scotch.] 
Soon heels o'er gowdy ! in he gangs. Sums, On Life. 
Heels over head, somersault fashion ; hence, recklessly ; 
hastily. 
Ay hele oner tied, hourlande aboute. 
Alliterative Poems (ed. Morris), iii. 271. 
Neck and heels. Same as neck and crop (which see, un- 
der crop). Out at heels, having the stockings or shoes 
worn out at the heels ; hence, in embarrassed circum- 
stances : equivalent to the phrases down at heels and out 
at elbows. 
A good man's fortune may grow out at heels. 
Shak., Lear, ii. 2. 
To come to heel, to follow closely at the heel ; to heel, 
as a dog. 
It will be well to teach the dog to come to heel, and to 
keep there. Dogs of Great Britain and America,, p. 225. 
Unless properly trained to come to heel, a dog is worse 
than useless. T. Roosevelt, Hunting Trips, p. 166. 
To cool the heels. See cool'. To have the heels of, 
to outrun. To kick one's heels, to stand idly waiting. 
I suppose this is a spice of foreign breeding, to let your 
uncle kick his heels in your hall. Foote, The Minor, ii. 
To lay by the heels, to fetter ; shackle ; confine. 
If the king blame me for 't, I'll lay ye all 
By the heels. Shak., Hen. VIIL, T. 3. 
To pick up one's heels, (a) To lift the feet in running ; 
run. (Colloq. ] (b) To take to flight ; start off : as, he picked 
up his heels and ran like a deer. [Colloq.] To show the 
heels, show a clean pair of heels, to flee ; run away. 
Crack crack, from a couple of barrels, and they showed 
me their heels, as you may believe. 
The Century, XXXVI. 127. 
To take to one's heels, to flee ; take to flight 
But as we drew neerer unto him, he discerned we were 
not those he looked for, he look to his heels, and fled from 
his houses. Sir Francis Drake Revived, p. 27. 
heel 1 (hel), v. [<.heeP-,n.~] I. trans. 1. To per- 
form by the use of the heels or feet, as a dance. 
[Rare.] 
I cannot sing, 
Nor heel the high lavolt, nor sweeten talk. 
Shak., T. and C., Iv. 4. 
2. To furnish with a heel or heel-piece, as any 
foot-covering ; put a heel to, as a shoe or stock- 
ing. 
To cobble, and heel hose for the poor friars. 
Fletcher (and another), Love's Cure, v. 3. 
3. To catch by the heels. 
I have seen them [cowboys] rope a calf too large to 
handle with one rope ; one would heel him 'rope him by 
the hind feet), while the other roped him about the neck. 
New York Evening Post, Jan. 14, 1887. 
4. To arm with a gaff or spur, as a cock. 5. 
To equip or arm. See heeled, 2. [Slang, west- 
ern U. S.] 
II. intrans. In sporting, to come or walk be- 
hind one's heels : used of a dog, and chiefly in 
command. 
See that he [the collie] possesses a good nose, la staunch 
on point and charge, heels properly. 
Sportsman's Qaietteer, p. 448. 
heel 2 (hel), v. [Also written (dial.) heal, hele, 
lull; a corruption, due appar. to confusion of 
2771 
the orig. pres. with the pret., of the earlier 
liccld, heald 1 , which remains in dial, use: see 
heeld, heald l .~\ I. trans. 1. To tilt, incline, or 
cant over from a vertical position, as a ship. 
I flnd it is true that the Dutch did heele " The Charles " 
to get her down, and yet run aground twice or thrice. 
Pepys, Diary, III. 179. 
2. To pour out. [Prov. Eng.] 
II. intrans. To turn partly over; come to a 
tilted position ; cant : as, the ship heeled over. 
Eight hundred of the brave, 
Whose courage well was tried, 
Had made the vessel heel, 
And laid her on her side. 
Cowper, The Royal George. 
heel 2 (hel), n. [< Iteel 2 , v.'] The act of inclin- 
ing or canting from a vertical position ; a cant : 
as, the ship gave a heel to port. Also heeling. 
hee! 3 t, v. and n. An obsolete spelling of heafl. 
heel 4 (hel), v. Same as heaft, 3. 
heel-ball (hel'bal), n. 1. A preparation of 
wax used by shoemakers in the form of a ball 
in burnishing the heels of shoes. Also called 
blackball. 2. A kind of dabber for spreading 
ink or color upon anything : used in taking trial 
impressions from engraved plates and the like. 
heel-blank (hel'blangk), n. A small piece of 
leather or a lift shaped for fitting to the heel 
of a shoe. 
heel-block (hel'blok), . A block used by 
shoemakers when attaching the heel to a shoe ; 
a last. 
He was no whirligig lect'rer of the times. 
That from a heel-block to a pulpit climbs. 
I: n in i; On the Death of Mr. Josias Shute. 
heel-bone (hel'bon), w. 1. The bone of the 
heel; the os calcis or calcaneum. Seefibulare, 
and cut under foot. 2. The calcar of a bat. 
heel-cutter (herkuf'Sr), n. A hand-tool or 
shaper for cutting out the lifts used in forming 
the heels of boots and shoes. 
heeldt, heald 1 ! (held), v. [Early mod. E. also 
heild, hild, hyld; < ME. heelden, heildeii, helden, 
hylden (pres. helde, pret. heldede, and contr. 
helde), < AS. heldan, hyldan, tr. tilt, incline, intr. 
incline, bow down (= OS. in comp. of heldian = 
MD. helden =MLG. helden, halden, LG. hellen = 
OHG. heldan, MHG-. helden, incline, =Icel. halla, 
lean sidewise, incline, heel over (said esp. of a 
ship), hella, pour, = Sw. hdlla, tilt, pour, = Dan. 
hcelde, tilt, lean, slant, slope), < healde, inclined, 
bent, bowed, = OHG. hald, inclined, sloping, 
= Icel. hallr, leaning, sloping; cf. Dan. h(eld, 
n., an incline, a slope. This verb, which is 
phonetically analogous to yield, wield, field, and 
would be spelled accordingly, has become cor- 
rupted in common E. use to heel 2 , q. v.] I. 
trans. 1 . To bend ; incline ; specifically, to tilt, 
as a water-vessel or a ship: same as heel 2 , 1. 
Helde thin ere to me. Ps. xvi. [xvii.] 6 (ME. version). 
2. To pour out ; pour. 
Tak water of the flood, and heeld it out vpon the drye 
lond. Wyclif, Ex. iv. 9 (Oxf.). 
Tyriake is hald of sum on vynes rootes 
And dooth ful wel. 
Palladius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 101. 
3. To throw ; cast ; put. 
II. intrans. 1 . To bow ; bend ; incline ; tilt 
or cant over. 
If ever I stope or held 
I hope never to ben scheld. 
Richard Coer de Lion (Weber's Metr. Rom., II. X 1. 791. 
2. To decline; sink; go down. 
Now the sonne to the grounde helde. 
King Alisaunder, 1. 2621. 
Sone the teute part it was tried, 
And wente awaye, as was worthye, 
They heild to helle all that meyne, ther-in to bide. 
York Plays, p. 86. 
3. To yield ; give way ; surrender. 
Than they heldede to hir heste alle holly at ones. 
Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.X 1. 8369. 
heeldt, heald 1 ! (held), n. [Early mod. E. also 
heild; = OHG. halda, MHG. G. halde, a slope ; 
from the verb.] 1. An inclination ; a cant. 
2. An incline; a slope. [Prov. Eng.] 
seond wudes and geond feldes 
geond hulles [hills] and geonde heldee. 
Layamon, II. 112. 
3. A decline; decrease; wane. Nash. 
heeled (held), p. a. [Pp. of heel 1 , v.~\ 1. Pro- 
vided with a heel or a heel-like protuberance. 
The claws are heavily heeled at base. Scudder. 
2. Shod: usually in the slang phrase well heeled, 
well shod, conditioned, or circumstanced: ap- 
plied to a player at cards who has a good hand, 
to a person who possesses plenty of money, or to 
a man who is well armed. [Slang, U. S.] 
heel-rope 
heeler (he'ler), n. [< heel 1 + -er 1 .] 1. A cock 
that strikes well with his heels. 2. A quick 
runner. [Prov. Eng. and New Eng.] 3. [Cf. 
LG. hakken-kiker (lit. ' heel-watcher' : see keek) 
&n<lltakken-treder(lit. 'heel-treader': see tread), 
a lackey (whofollows at the heels of hismaster).] 
One who follows at the heels of another; an un- 
scrupulous or disreputable follower or hanger- 
on of a professional politician or "boss," or of a 
party. [Political slang, U. S.] 
To have fine clothes, drink champagne, and pose in a 
fashionable bar-room in the height of the season is not 
this the apotheosis of the heeler and the ward "worker"? 
C. D. Warner, Their Pilgrimage, p. 268. 
What the client was to his patron at Rome, what the 
vassal was to his lord in the Middle Ages, that the heelers 
and workers are to their boss in these great transatlantic 
cities. They render a personal feudal service, which their 
suzerain repays with the gift of a livelihood. 
Bryce, American Commonwealth, Izlli. 
heeling (he'ling), n. Same as heel 2 . 
heeling-error (he'ling-er"or), n. A deviation 
of the compass-needle on board ship from the 
magnetic pole, caused by induced magnetism 
in the transverse iron beams of the ship. This 
Induction is due to the inclination of the beams in the 
direction of the magnetic pole when the ship heels, or in- 
clines to one side or the other. 
heel-iron (heVi"ern), n. A metal plate some- 
times attached to the bottom of the heel of a 
boot to prevent it from wearing unevenly, or 
with which to make a clattering noise in clog- 
dancing. Also heel-plate. 
heel-jigger (hel'jig"lr), n. A small tackle fas- 
tened to the heel of a spar to assist in running 
it in and out. 
heel-joint (hel' joint), n. In ornith., the suffra- 
go ; the ankle-joint ; the so-called tibiotarsal 
articulation of a bird, between the leg or crus 
and the tarsometatarsus or shank. See tarsus. 
heel-knee (hel'ne), n. Naut., the knee con- 
necting the keel with the stern-post. 
heel-lift (heTlift), n. One of the pieces of sole- 
leather of which the heel of a shoe is formed. 
heel-machine (hel'ma-shen"), n. A general 
name for a number of tools and machines em- 
ployed in cutting out the lifts of which the 
heels of shoes ai-e made, putting them toge- 
ther, and shaping, fitting, and polishing them. 
heel-pad (hel'pad), n. In ornith., the pterna ; 
the posterior part of the palma, immediately 
under the foot-joint, and prominent in many 
birds. 
But heel-pad should not be used in this connection, 
since the heel (calcaneus) is at the top of the tarsus, and 
not at the bottom where the heel-pad lies. 
Coues, Hist. N. A. Birds, III. Gloss., p. 545. 
heel-path (hel'path),tt. [Opposite the tow-path, 
as if this were the toe-path.] The side of a canal 
opposite the tow-path. [Local, U. S.] 
heel-piece (hel 'pes), . 1. That part of a shoe 
or stocking which incloses the heel of the foot 
either beneath or behind, or both ; the heel. 
And then it grieved me sore to look 
Just at the heelpiece of his book. 
Lloyd, Cobbler of Tessington's Letter. 
2. Armor for the heel, especially that part of 
the solleret which covered the heel and the 
back of the ankle, and to which the spur was 
attached. 
heelpiece (herpes), v. t. ; pret. and pp. heelpieeed, 
ppr. heelpiecing. [< heel-piece, .] To furnish 
with a heel-piece ; add an additional heel-piece 
to, as in repairing. 
Some blamed Mrs. Bull for new heel-piecing her shoes. 
Arbuthnot, John Bull. 
A man . . . whose name you will probably hear usher- 
ed in by a Doctissimus Doctissimorum, or heelpieeed with 
a long Latin termination. Goldsmith, To R. Bryanton. 
heel-plate (hel' plat), . 1. Same as heel-iron. 
2. A plate on the butt-end of a gun-stock. 3. 
A small square piece of iron with a hole in the 
center sunk into the heel of a boot or shoe to 
receive the screw or spur of a form of skate. 
heel-post (heTpost), n. 1. The outer post in 
the stall-partition of a stable. 2. Naut., the 
post which supports, at the outer end. the pro- 
pelling-screw of a steam-vessel. 3. The hang- 
ing-post or hanging-stile of a door. 4. The 
quoin-post of the gate of a lock. 
heel-ring (hel'ring), n. 1. The ring by which 
a scythe-blade is secured to the snath. 2. 
The ring which secures the blade of a plow. 
HiilliweH. [Prov. Eng.] 
heel-rope (hel'rop), n. Naut., a rope applied 
through the heel of anything, particularly that 
which is rove through a sheave at the heel of 
the jib-boom or of the bowsprit, for the pur- 
pose of hauling it out. 
