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take to one's heels

Run away, as in When the burglar alarm went off they took to their heels. This expression alludes to the fact that the heels are all one sees of a fugitive running away fast. Although similar expressions turned up from Shakespeare's time on, the exact idiom dates only from the first half of the 1800s. Also see show one's heels.

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Words nearby take to one's heels

take the wind out of one's sails, take the words out of someone's mouth, take the wrong way, take to, take to heart, take to one's heels, take to task, take to the cleaners, take turns, take umbrage, take-up
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.