heel

noun heels

1. The rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg. He [the stag] calls to mind his strength and then his speed, / His winged heels and then his armed head.
2. The part of a shoe's sole which supports the foot's heel.
3. The rear part of a sock or similar covering for the foot.
4. The part of the palm of a hand closest to the wrist. He drove the heel of his hand into the man's nose.
5. plural normally A high-heeled shoe. She'd been wearing heels, and fell backward off her right heel and twisted or broke her ankle.
6. The back, upper part of the stock.
7. The thickening of the neck of a stringed instrument where it attaches to the body.
8. The last or lowest part of anything. the heel of a mast
9. Australia, Ireland, Scotland, US A crust end-piece of a loaf of bread. the heel of the white loaf
10. US The base of a bun sliced in half lengthwise. The bottom half, or the bun heel is placed in the carton, and the pickle slices spread evenly over the meat or cheese.

    Similar: boot, butt

11. informal A contemptible, unscrupulous, inconsiderate, or thoughtless person. I grinned at him sneeringly. I was the heel to end all heels. Wait until the man is down, then kick him and kick him again. He's weak. He can't resist or kick back.
12. broadly, slang A headlining wrestler regarded as a "bad guy," whose ring persona embodies villainous or reprehensible traits and demonstrates characteristics of a braggart and a bully. Freedman began his analysis by noting two important facts about professional wrestling: First, that heels triumph considerably more often than do babyfaces[…]
13. The cards set aside for later use in a patience or solitaire game.
14. Anything resembling a human heel in shape; a protuberance; a knob.
15. The lower end of a timber in a frame, as a post or rafter.
16. US, specifically The obtuse angle of the lower end of a rafter set sloping.
17. obsolete A cyma reversa. Of these there are two Kinds; in the one, that Part which has the greatest Projecture is Concave, and is term'd Doucine, or an Upright Ogee; in the other, the Convex Part has the greatest Projecture; and this is call'd the Heel, or Inverted Ogee.
18. The short side of an angled cut.
19. The part of a club head's face nearest the shaft.
20. The lower end of the bit (cutting edge) of an axehead, as opposed to the toe (upper end).
21. The part of a carding machine's flat nearest the cylinder.
22. The junction between the keel and the stempost of a vessel; an angular wooden join connecting the two.
23. Material stored in a smelting furnace between batches

Similar: boot, butt, crust, ender, knob-end, outsider · Opposite: babyface, toe

verb heels · heeling · heeled

1. To follow at somebody's heels; to chase closely. She called to her dog to heel.
2. To cause to follow at somebody’s heels (transitive).
3. To add a heel to, or increase the size of the heel of (a shoe or boot). So I laid down my knittin', an' got up, an' stole ovir to the banes, an' nivir believe me iv I didn't see, sittin' right forenint me, in the very middle of thim, a bit of an ould man, not a quarther so big as a new-born child, wid a little cocked hat an his head, an' a dudeen in his mouth, smokin' a
4. To kick with the heel. she heeled her horse forward
5. transitive To perform by the use of the heels, as in dancing, running, etc. I cannot sing, Nor heel the high lavolt.
6. transitive To arm with a gaff, as a cock for fighting.
7. transitive To hit (the ball) with the heel of the club.
8. transitive To make (a fair catch) standing with one foot forward, the heel on the ground and the toe up.
9. US, intransitive At Yale University, to work as a heeler or student journalist.

verb heels · heeling · heeled

1. To incline to one side; to tilt. The faster a ship sails, the better she will answer her helm; if she sail very slow, she will scarce steer at all. If she heel much, she won't answer the helm so well.

noun heels

1. The act of inclining or canting from a vertical position; a cant. [T]he boat, from a sudden gust of wind, taking a deep heel, I tumbled overboard and down I went […] .

   Similar: heeling

verb heels · heeling · heeled

1. alternative, especially, rare, in the phrase "heel in" Alternative form of hele (“cover; conceal”). They should be dug up with a sharp mattock or grub hoe, the roots being broken as little as possible, and they should be heeled in a cool place and protected from the sun until ready to plant. When lifted for planting from the trench in which heeled the roots should be kept covered with a wet sack.

proper noun

1. A part of Maasgouw in the Netherlands