heel v.1
1. (US, also heel it, heel out) to run away, to escape, to walk quickly.
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | North-Carolinan (Fayetteville, NC) 18 Nov. 1/6: To leave [...] heel it. | |
| Courier (Natchez, MS) 23 Aug. col. 3 in Humor of the Old Deep South (1936) n.p.: Several of the foot ‘cuffs’ being ‘dead-blowed’ with heeling it ‘fer corner’. | |
| (con. c.1840) Huckleberry Finn 191: Buck Harkness he heeled it after them, looking tolerable cheap. | |
| ‘Prison Dict.’ in AS VIII:3 (1933) 27/2: HEEL. To run away. | |
| Grimhaven 180: I’m heelin’ down to the Sidney Harbour’s for an ocean wave and a work-out on the bonny fair. | |
| Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 97: Heel. – To walk. | |
| Plunder (2005) 269: Maybe the wise thing would be to heel out. | |
| World’s Toughest Prison 803: heel – To walk. |
2. (US Und.) to walk stealthily, to stalk, to follow.
| Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 29 Apr. 2/2: Ingersoll having downed all the parsons, is now in New York on their own fighting ground ‘heeling’ them in the most approved modern way. | |
| Dly Press (Newport News, VA) 19 Apr. 12/4: When the clerk’s attention is engaged the other [thief] ‘heels in,’ sneaks behind the counter [...] and snatches a tray of diamonds. | |
| Vocab. Criminal Sl. 43: heel [...] to stalk. | |
| Prison Community (1940) 332/2: heel, vt. [...] to shadow, to follow. |
3. (US) to push someone out of the way.
| ‘The Gift of Tongues’ [synd. col.]He ‘heeled’ a man [...] with the palm of his left hand as he man tried to stop him. |
4. (US) to play the sycophant or ‘gofer’, e.g. to a politician, a gangster, or other powerful individual.
| ‘Varsity Manager’ in New Yorker 25 Oct. 62/3: On the [football] practice field, heeling the managership, he had to be able to do pretty much of everything. |
5. (US Und.) to leave without paying one’s bill.
| Hey, Sucker 99: heel the joint ... to walk out without paying. | |
| et al. DAUL 94/1: Heel, v. [...] 4. To leave one’s hotel or boarding house without paying one’s bill. 5. To run away; to flee; to escape; to take to one’s heels. | |
| ‘Carnie Talk’ (in AS XXVIII:2) 116: heel (a joint), v. To leave without paying one’s bill. | |
| ‘More Carnie Talk’ in AS XLI:4 281: We managed to heel that money before they could give us the bill. | |
| (con. 1940s–60s) Straight from the Fridge Dad 86: Heel the joint Leave without paying. |
In phrases
1. (US Und.) to run off, to escape; thus cop and heel n. (see cit. 1960).
| ‘Prison Lingo’ in AS II:6 280: They ‘hot-foots’ (hurry) it down the alley and ‘shakes the gum-foot’ (get away from the officer), goes over and ‘crashes the joint’ (break in) and ‘cops a heel’ (make a getaway). | |
| Big Con 293: To COP A HEEL. To run away. Also to light a rag, to take a powder. | |
| Scrambled Yeggs 81: Then I’d cop a heel and Joe and me would meet and I’d split with him. | |
| , | | DAS 123: cop and heel 1 An escape from prison or a policeman; a getaway. 2 A narrow escape; a close call. |
| Airtight Willie and Me 37: The loser copped a heel in terror. | |
| Jailhouse Jargon and Street Sl. [unpub. ms.]. | |
| Prison Sl. 107: Cop a Heel [...] To escape from prison. | |
 | Jericho Flower 87: Only this time something musta gone really sour before he could cop a heel. |
2. (US prison) to attack from behind.
| Und. Speaks. | |
| San Quentin Bulletin in L.A. Times 6 May 7: COP A HEEL, assault someone from behind. | |
| et al. DAUL 49/2: Cop a heel. [...] 6. To assault without warning. ‘Four of the Greek’s mob with rods (guns) and saps (blackjacks) copped a heel on me and Luke.’. |
see sense 1 above.
see separate entry.
see sense 1 above.