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.
She'd been wearing heels, and fell backward off her right heel and twisted or broke her ankle.2008, Kwame Shauku, Wonderful Williams and the Magnificent Seven, page 257:
Opting to improve her odds of making it up the stairs and into the privacy of her room, she kicked off her left heel, and then her right before leaning down to scoop them up.2011, Candace Irvine, A Dangerous Engagement:
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Flat shoes. As she pushed off her left heel and pressed the sole of her foot to the cold floor she looked forward to them.2015, Alex Blackmore, Killing Eva:
Oh mama, I'm just having fun On the stage in my heels It's where I belong down at the...2020 April 3, Chappell Roan, Dan Nigro, “Pink Pony Club”performed by Chappell Roan:
Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music The thickening of the neck of a stringed instrument where it attaches to the body.
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The last or lowest part of anything.
the heel of a mast
the heel of a vessel
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And then again the sportsmen would move at an undertaker's pace, when the fox had traversed and the hounds would be at a loss to know which was the hunt and which was the heel1860, Anthony Trollope, Framley Parsonage:
the heel of the white loaf1814 July 7, [Walter Scott], Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC:
Boiled mutton was in one, and the heel of a damper in another.1902, Barbara Baynton, edited by Sally Krimmer and Alan Lawson, Bush Studies (Portable Australian Authors: Barbara Baynton), St Lucia: University of Queensland Press, published 1980, page 32:
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`Have ye seen,' said Uncle Jobson with basilisk severity, `what's become of the heel of to-day's loaf?'1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, →OCLC, page 42:
The bottom half, or the bun heel is placed in the carton, and the pickle slices spread evenly over the meat or cheese.1996, Ester Reiter, Making Fast Food: From the Frying Pan Into the Fryer, page 100:
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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.1953, Raymond Chandler, chapter 29, in The Long Goodbye:
She should be glad to have him on her side. So why did Godshawk's memories, grumbling again in that substrate of her brain, keep reminding her of heels he'd known, and tricksters?2011, Philip Reeve, Scrivener's Moon, Scholastic, →ISBN, pages 361–362:
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Douglas steams and stammers, a typical film noir heel, while Stone delivers her dialogue with the devilish gleam of a sly actor having a great time.2022 March 20, Jason Bailey, “‘Basic Instinct’ at 30: A Time Capsule That Can Still Offend”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
Freedman began his analysis by noting two important facts about professional wrestling: First, that heels triumph considerably more often than do babyfaces[…]1992, Bruce Lincoln, Discourse and the Construction of Society, page 158:
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Card games, Games The cards set aside for later use in a patience or solitaire game.
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Anything resembling a human heel in shape; a protuberance; a knob.
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Architecture The lower end of a timber in a frame, as a post or rafter.
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US, Specifically The obtuse angle of the lower end of a rafter set sloping.
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.1722, Claude Perrault, A Treatise of the Five Orders in Architecture, page vii:
There are two kinds—the upright ogee, in which the concave part projects most, and the heel or inverted ogee, which has the convexity most prominent. This last, with its fillet above, is always the upper moulding of a classical cornice.1846, George William Francis, The Dictionary of the Arts, Sciences, and Manufactures:
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Talon: Heel moulding or ogee1891, Vignola, Practical Elementary Treatise on Architecture, page ii:
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.
To cause to follow at somebody’s heels (transitive).
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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' away; an' a plain, ould-fashioned, dhrab-coloured coat, wid big brass buttons upon it, an his back, an' a pair o' massy silver buckles in his shoes, that a'most covered his feet they war so big, an' he workin' away as hard as ivir he could, heelin' a little pair o' pumps.1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 378:
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To kick with the heel.
she heeled her horse forward
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To perform by the use of the heels, as in dancing, running, etc.
I cannot sing, Nor heel the high lavolt.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv], lines 85-86:
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To arm with a gaff, as a cock for fighting.
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Golf, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports To hit (the ball) with the heel of the club.
Etymology 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”)).
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.1764, John Nourse, Navigation Or, the Art of Sailing Upon the Sea, page 65:
Etymology 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”)).
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Nautical, Transport 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 […] .1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 14