heel

• IPA^(key): /hiːl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːl
• Homophones: heal, he'll, hill (in some dialects)

From Middle English hele, heel, from Old English hēla, from Proto-Germanic *hanhilaz (compare North Frisian hael, Dutch hiel, Danish and Norwegian hæl Swedish häl), diminutive of Proto-Germanic *hanhaz (“hock”), equivalent to hock +‎ -le. More at hock.

heel (plural heels)

A girl's heel

heel of the hand

Heel of a loaf of rye bread

1. (anatomy) The rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg.
   • (Can we date this quote?) John Denham

     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. (usually in the plural) A woman's high-heeled shoe.
   • 2008, Kwame Shauku, Wonderful Williams and the Magnificent Seven (page 257)

     She'd been wearing heels, and fell backward off her right heel and twisted or broke her ankle.

   • 2011, Candace Irvine, A Dangerous Engagement

     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.

   • 2015, Alex Blackmore, Killing Eva

     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.

6. (firearms) The back, upper part of the stock.
7. The last or lowest part of anything.

   the heel of a mast

   the heel of a vessel

   • (Can we date this quote?) Anthony Trollope

     the heel of a hunt

8. (US, Ireland) A crust end-piece of a loaf of bread.
   • (Can we date this quote?) Sir Walter Scott

     the heel of the white loaf

9. (US) The base of a bun sliced in half lengthwise.
   • 1996, Ester Reiter, Making Fast Food: From the Frying Pan Into the Fryer (page 100)

     The bottom half, or the bun heel is placed in the carton, and the pickle slices spread evenly over the meat or cheese.

10. A contemptible, inconsiderate or thoughtless person.
11. (slang, professional wrestling) 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.
    • 1992, Bruce Lincoln, Discourse and the Construction of Society (page 158)

      Freedman began his analysis by noting two important facts about professional wrestling: First, that heels triumph considerably more often than do babyfaces […]

12. (card games) The cards set aside for later use in a patience or solitaire game.
13. Anything resembling a human heel in shape; a protuberance; a knob.
14. (architecture) The lower end of a timber in a frame, as a post or rafter.
15. (specifically, US) The obtuse angle of the lower end of a rafter set sloping.
16. (architecture, workman slang) A cyma reversa.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Gwilt to this entry?)

17. (carpentry) The short side of an angled cut.
18. (golf) The part of a club head's face nearest the shaft.
19. In a carding machine, the part of a flat nearest the cylinder.

• (end of bread): ender, outsider (Scotland)

• (headlining wrestler): babyface
• (angled cut in carpentry): toe

heel (third-person singular simple present heels, present participle heeling, simple past and past participle heeled)

1. To follow at somebody's heels; to chase closely.

   She called to her dog to heel.

2. To add a heel to, or increase the size of the heel of (a shoe or boot).
3. To kick with the heel.
4. (transitive) To perform by the use of the heels, as in dancing, running, etc.
   • William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida (act 4, scene 4, lines 85-86)

     I cannot sing, / Nor heel the high lavolt.

5. (transitive) To arm with a gaff, as a cock for fighting.
6. (golf, transitive) To hit (the ball) with the heel of the club.
7. (American football, transitive) To make (a fair catch) standing with one foot forward, the heel on the ground and the toe up.

Alteration of earlier heeld, from Middle English heelden, from Old English hyldan, hieldan (“to incline”), cognate with Old Norse hella (“to pour out”) (from Danish hælde (“lean, pour”)). More at hield.

heel (third-person singular simple present heels, present participle heeling, simple past and past participle heeled)

1. (intransitive, especially of ships) To incline to one side; to tilt.
   • 1764, John Nourse, Navigation Or, the Art of Sailing Upon the Sea (page 65)

     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.

heel (plural heels)

1. The act of inclining or canting from a vertical position; a cant.

   The ship gave a heel to port.

• heeling

• Ehle, hele

• Rhymes: -eːl
• IPA^(key): /ɦeːl/

• audio

  (file)

From Middle Dutch hêel, from Old Dutch hēl, from Proto-Germanic *hailaz.

heel (comparative heler, superlative heelst)

1. complete, full, whole

• gans
• volledig

• geheel
• helen

• heil

heel

1. very

Although an adverb, heel may be inflected as well (hele) to match the following adjective. For example, both of these sentences are correct:

• Dat is een heel grote boom.

  That is a very large tree.

• Dat is een hele grote boom.

  That is a very large tree.

The latter form may be regarded as informal and less appropriate for formal writing.

See the etymology of the main entry.

heel

1. first-person singular present indicative of helen
2. imperative of helen

• hele

heel

1. second-person singular imperative of heelen

From Old Dutch hēl, from Proto-Germanic *hailaz.

hêel

1. whole, full
2. undamaged, unbroken
3. healthy, healed
4. honest, sincere, pure

This adjective needs an inflection-table template.

• Dutch: heel

• “heel (II)”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• “heel (II)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, 1929