Word: heel Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English hele, from Old English hēla, from Proto-West Germanic *hą̄hilō, from Proto-Germanic *hanhilaz, diminutive of Proto-Germanic *hanhaz (“heel, hock”), equivalent to hock + -le. More at hock. Compare North Frisian haiel, West Frisian hyl, Dutch hiel, German Low German Hiel, Danish and Norwegian hæl, Swedish häl. Pronunciation: /hiːl/, /hil/ 1. The rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg. Example: He [the stag] calls to mind his strength and then his speed, / His winged heels and then his armed head. 2. The part of a shoe's sole which supports the foot's heel. 3. The rear part of a sock or similar covering for the foot. 4. The part of the palm of a hand closest to the wrist. Example: He drove the heel of his hand into the man's nose. 5. A high-heeled shoe. Labels: plural-normally Example: She'd been wearing heels, and fell backward off her right heel and twisted or broke her ankle. Example: Opting to improve her odds of making it up the stairs and into the privacy of her room, she kicked off her left heel, and then her right before leaning down to scoop them up. 6. The back, upper part of the stock. 7. The thickening of the neck of a stringed instrument where it attaches to the body. 8. The last or lowest part of anything. Example: the heel of a mast Example: the heel of a vessel 9. A crust end-piece of a loaf of bread. Labels: Australia, Ireland, Scotland, US Example: the heel of the white loaf Example: Boiled mutton was in one, and the heel of a damper in another. 10. The base of a bun sliced in half lengthwise. Labels: US Example: The bottom half, or the bun heel is placed in the carton, and the pickle slices spread evenly over the meat or cheese. 11. A contemptible, unscrupulous, inconsiderate, or thoughtless person. Labels: informal Example: I grinned at him sneeringly. I was the heel to end all heels. Wait until the man is down, then kick him and kick him again. He's weak. He can't resist or kick back. Example: She should be glad to have him on her side. So why did Godshawk's memories, grumbling again in that substrate of her brain, keep reminding her of heels he'd known, and tricksters? 12. A headlining wrestler regarded as a "bad guy," whose ring persona embodies villainous or reprehensible traits and demonstrates characteristics of a braggart and a bully. Labels: broadly, slang Example: Freedman began his analysis by noting two important facts about professional wrestling: First, that heels triumph considerably more often than do babyfaces[…] 13. The cards set aside for later use in a patience or solitaire game. 14. Anything resembling a human heel in shape; a protuberance; a knob. 15. The lower end of a timber in a frame, as a post or rafter. 16. The obtuse angle of the lower end of a rafter set sloping. Labels: US, specifically 17. A cyma reversa. Labels: obsolete Example: Of these there are two Kinds; in the one, that Part which has the greatest Projecture is Concave, and is term'd Doucine, or an Upright Ogee; in the other, the Convex Part has the greatest Projecture; and this is call'd the Heel, or Inverted Ogee. Example: There are two kinds—the upright ogee, in which the concave part projects most, and the heel or inverted ogee, which has the convexity most prominent. This last, with its fillet above, is always the upper moulding of a classical cornice. 18. The short side of an angled cut. 19. The part of a club head's face nearest the shaft. 20. The lower end of the bit (cutting edge) of an axehead, as opposed to the toe (upper end). 21. The part of a carding machine's flat nearest the cylinder. 22. The junction between the keel and the stempost of a vessel; an angular wooden join connecting the two. 23. Material stored in a smelting furnace between batches