Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Heel

Heel (hēl), v. i. [OE. helden to lean, incline, AS. heldan, hyldan; akin to Icel. halla, Dan. helde, Sw. hälla to tilt, pour, and perh. to E. hill.] (Naut.) 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.

Heel, n. [OE. hele, heele, AS. hēla, perh. for hōhila, fr. AS. hōh heel (cf. Hough); but cf. D. hiel, OFries. heila, hēla, Icel. hæll, Dan. hæl, Sw. häl, and L. calx. √12. Cf. Inculcate.] 1. The hinder part of the foot; sometimes, the whole foot; — in man or quadrupeds.

He [the stag] calls to mind his strength and then his speed, His winged heels and then his armed head. Denham.

2. 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.

3. The latter or remaining part of anything; the closing or concluding part. "The heel of a hunt." A. Trollope. "The heel of the white loaf." Sir W. Scott.

4. Anything regarded as like a human heel in shape; a protuberance; a knob.

5. The part of a thing corresponding in position to the human heel; the lower part, or part on which a thing rests; especially: (a) (Naut.) The after end of a ship's keel. (b) (Naut.) The lower end of a mast, a boom, the bowsprit, the sternpost, etc. (c) (Mil.) In a small arm, the corner of the but which is upwards in the firing position. (d) (Mil.) The uppermost part of the blade of a sword, next to the hilt. (e) The part of any tool next the tang or handle; as, the heel of a scythe.

6. (Man.) Management by the heel, especially the spurred heel; as, the horse understands the heel well.

7. (Arch.) (a) The lower end of a timber in a frame, as a post or rafter. In the United States, specif., the obtuse angle of the lower end of a rafter set sloping. (b) A cyma reversa; — so called by workmen. Gwilt.

Heel chain (Naut.), a chain passing from the bowsprit cap around the heel of the jib boom. — Heel plate, the butt plate of a gun. — Heel of a rafter. (Arch.) See Heel, n., 7. — Heel ring, a ring for fastening a scythe blade to the snath. — Neck and heels, the whole body. (Colloq.) — To be at the heels of, to pursue closely; to follow hard; as, hungry want is at my heels. Otway. — To be down at the heel, to be slovenly or in a poor plight. — To be out at the heels, to have on stockings that are worn out; hence, to be shabby, or in a poor plight. Shak. — To cool the heels. See under Cool. — To go heels over head, to turn over so as to bring the heels uppermost; hence, to move in a inconsiderate, or rash, manner. — To have the heels of, to outrun. — To lay by the heels, to fetter; to shackle; to imprison. Shak. Addison. — To show the heels, to flee; to run from. — To take to the heels, to flee; to betake to flight. — To throw up another's heels, to trip him. Bunyan. — To tread upon one's heels, to follow closely. Shak.

Heel, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Heeled; p. pr. & vb. n. Heeling.] 1. To perform by the use of the heels, as in dancing, running, and the like. [R.]

I cannot sing, Nor heel the high lavolt. Shak.

2. To add a heel to; as, to heel a shoe.

3. To arm with a gaff, as a cock for fighting.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.