Dictionary

kick one's heels en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. (idiomatic) To wait; to wait impatiently or restlessly.
   • […] whether, in one single instance, any individual has been obliged to kick his heels in the lobby even for one minute, and whether the order was not instantly granted ? 1830, The Edinburgh Literary Journal, volume 1, page 231:
   • […] the older fathers were left to kick their heels in their empty booths, which made them very cross... 1999, Denis Diderot, translated by David Coward, Jacques the Fatalist, page 37:
   • It is the fate of sequels to disappoint those who have waited for them; and my David, having been left to kick his heels for more than a lustre in the British Linen Company’s office, must expect his late re-appearance to be greeted with hoots, if not with missiles. 1893, Robert Louis Stevenson, Catriona, Dedication: To Charles Baxter
2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see kick, heels.
   • The dancer kicked her heels as high as her shoulders.
   • The restless boy kicked his heels against the chair legs.

Forms

Relateds

kick up one's heels

Synonyms

cool one's heels · bide one's time · be left kicking (to wait impatiently or restlessly)