“heels” is a form of
heel
UK /hiːl/ · US /hil/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms heels heeling heeled
- noun (anatomy) The rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg.
- noun The part of a shoe's sole which supports the foot's heel.
- noun The rear part of a sock or similar covering for the foot.
- noun The part of the palm of a hand closest to the wrist. “He drove the heel of his hand into the man's nose.”
- noun (usually in the plural) A high-heeled shoe.
- noun (firearms) The back, upper part of the stock.
- noun (music) The thickening of the neck of a stringed instrument where it attaches to the body.
- noun The last or lowest part of anything. “the heel of a mast”
- verb To follow at somebody's heels; to chase closely. “She called to her dog to heel.”
- verb To cause to follow at somebody’s heels (transitive).
- verb To add a heel to, or increase the size of the heel of (a shoe or boot).
- verb To kick with the heel.
- verb (transitive) To perform by the use of the heels, as in dancing, running, etc.
- verb (transitive) To arm with a gaff, as a cock for fighting.
- verb (golf, transitive) To hit (the ball) with the heel of the club.
- verb (American football, transitive) To make (a fair catch) standing with one foot forward, the heel on the ground and the toe up.
- verb (chiefly nautical) To incline to one side; to tilt.
- noun (nautical) The act of inclining or canting from a vertical position; a cant.
- proper noun A part of Maasgouw in the Netherlands
Synonyms
boot butt crust ender knob-end outsider heeling cad bounder blackguard dog hound list reheel
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English hele, from Old English hēla, from Proto-West Germanic *hą̄hilō, from Proto-Germanic *hanhilaz, diminutive of Proto-Germanic *hanhaz (“heel, hock”), equivalent to hock + -le. More at hock.
Compare North Frisian haiel, West Frisian hyl, Dutch hiel, German Low German Hiel, Danish and Norwegian hæl, Swedish häl.
Probably inferred from hielded, the past tense of hield, from Middle English helden, heelden, from Old English hyldan, hieldan (“to incline”), cognate with Old Norse hella (“to pour out”) (whence Danish hælde (“lean, pour”)).
See hele (“conceal, keep secret, cover”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To lean or tip to one side, as a ship; as, the ship heels aport; the boat heeled over when the squall struck it. Heeling error (Naut.), a deviation of the compass caused by the heeling of an iron vessel to one side or the other.
- noun The hinder part of the foot; sometimes, the whole foot; --in man or quadrupeds.
- noun The hinder part of any covering for the foot, as of a shoe, sock, etc.; specif., a solid part projecting downward from the hinder part of the sole of a boot or shoe.
- verb To perform by the use of the heels, as in dancing, running, and the like. [R.]
Etymology [OE. helden to lean, incline, AS. heldan, hyldan; akin to Icel. halla, Dan. helde, Sw. hälla to tilt, pour, and perh. to E. hill.]
Etymology [OE. hele, heele, AS. hela, perh. for hohila, fr. AS. heh heel (cf. Hough); but cf. D. hiel, OFries. heila, h, Icel. hæll, Dan. hæl, Sw. häl, and L. calx. sq. root12. Cf. Inculcate.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “heel”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details