heel

Universal Words noun, verb noun part of foot 1 [C] the back part of the foot below the ankle part of sock / shoe 2 [C] the part of a sock, etc. that covers the heel 3 [C] the raised part on the bottom of a shoe, boot, etc. that makes the shoe, etc. higher at the back: shoes with a low / high heel * a stiletto heel * The sergeant clicked his heels and walked out. compareSOLEn.(2) -heeled 4 (in adjectives) having the type of heel mentioned: high-heeled shoes seealsoWELLHEELED shoes 5 (heels) [pl.] a pair of women's shoes that have high heels: She doesn't often wear heels. part of hand 6 [C] ~ of your hand / palm the raised part of the inside of the hand where it joins the wrist unpleasant man 7 [C] (old-fashioned, informal) a man who is unpleasant to other people and cannot be trusted seealsoACHILLES'HEEL, DOWNATHEEL IDIOMS at / on sb's heels following closely behind sb: He fled from the stadium with the police at his heels. bring sb/sth to heel 1 to force sb to obey you and accept discipline: a non-violent means of bringing the rebels to heel 2 to make a dog come close to you come to heel 1 (of a person) to agree to obey sb and accept their discipline 2 (of a dog) to come close to the person who has called it (hard / hot) on sb's / sth's heels very close behind sb/sth; very soon after sth: News of rising unemployment followed hard on the heels of falling export figures. * He ran ahead, with the others hot on his heels take to your heels to run away from sb/sth turn / spin on your heel to turn around suddenly so that you are facing in the opposite direction under the heel of sb (literary) completely controlled by sb: The island spent several centuries under the heel of the British Empire. moreatCOOLv., DIGv., DRAGv., HEADn., KICKv., TREADv. verb repair shoe 1 [VN] to repair the heel of a shoe, etc. of boat 2 [V] ~ (over) to lean over to one side: The boat heeled over in the strong wind.