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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

heeler en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Etymology

Etymology tree Middle English hele English heel English -er English heeler From heel + -er.

Meanings

  1. A gamecock that strikes well with its heels or spurs.
  2. A quick runner.
    • That a crowd of Sydney stealers, Jockeys, pugilists and spielers Brought some horses, real heelers, Came and put us through. 1891, Banjo Paterson, An Evening in Dandaloo:
  3. A dog that readily comes to heel.
    • If your dog is a good heeler, you'll find some competition in the obedience ring. 1999, Ted Baer, Communicating with Your Dog: A Humane Approach to Dog Training:
  4. (Australia) A dog used for cattle droving.
    • [A] blue roan, a kind of dog that Jennifer had never seen before. She asked Tim what it was, and he said it was a "heeler", but when she pressed him to say if that was a breed or not, he could not tell her. It was a heeler because it went for the heels of the cattle and not their heads, apparently. 1952, Nevil Shute, chapter 5, in The Far Country, Melbourne: Heinemann:
  5. (US, dated, slang) A dependent and subservient hanger-on of a political patron.
    • The army of hungry heelers who do their bidding. 1886, Theodore Roosevelt, “Machine Politics”, in The Century:
  6. The rodeo performer who ropes the steer by its hind feet after the header has turned it.
  7. (US) A student journalist at Yale University.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
heelers Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

ward heeler · blue heeler · Lancashire Heeler