French heel

American  

noun

1. a high, curved heel, characterized by a heel breast curving into a shank, used on women's shoes.

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French heel British  

noun

1. a fairly high and narrow-waisted heel on women's shoes

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Other Word Forms

• French-heeled
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of French heel

First recorded in 1655–65

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

French heel

She has Antony’s heart under her foot, and she turns and turns her French heel on it, as if it were a worm.

From Was It Right to Forgive? A Domestic Romance by Barr, Amelia Edith Huddleston

"Say, have we got any more of them 4567 French heel, chiffon rosette?"

From Just Around the Corner Romance en casserole by Hurst, Fannie

The woman's shoe adds the so-called French heel to the evidence of enforced leisure afforded by its polish; because this high heel obviously makes any, even the simplest and most necessary manual work extremely difficult.

From Theory of the Leisure Class by Veblen, Thorstein

Once more he glanced down at the dainty shoe with its high French heel.

From The Ordeal A Mountain Romance of Tennessee by Duer, Douglas

It is the city of contrasts; the ox-cart dodges the automobile; in the track of French heel treads the moccasin; the silk hat salutes the Stetson.

From The New North by Cameron, Agnes Deans