to heel
Save This Word!
Close behind someone, as in The dog started chasing the car but Miriam called him to heel. This expression is used almost solely in reference to dogs. The heel in this idiom, first recorded in 1810, is the person's.
Under control or discipline, as in By a series of surprise raids the police brought the gang members to heel. This expression alludes to controlling a dog by training it to follow at one's heels. [Late 1800s]
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?
Words nearby to heel
Togolese, to good purpose, togs, togue, to hand, to heel, to hell and gone, to hell with, toheroa, Tohono O'odham, tohubohu
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.