Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. One who heels shoes.
- n. Informal A ward heeler.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A cock that strikes well with his heels.
- n. A quick runner.
- n. [Cf. LG. hakken-kiker (lit. ‘heel-watcher’: see keek) and hakken-treder (lit. ‘heel-treader’: see tread), a lackey (who follows at the heels of his master).] One who follows at the heels of another; an unscrupulous or disreputable follower or hanger-on of a professional politician or “boss,” or of a party.
Wiktionary
- n. A gamecock that strikes well with its heels or spurs.
- n. US, slang, politics, dated A dependent and subservient hanger-on of a political patron.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A cock that strikes well with his heels or spurs.
- n. Political Cant, U. S. A dependent and subservient hanger-on of a political patron.
Etymologies
- heel + -er (Wiktionary)
Examples
“That was your 'heeler' -- the man you had here when I came.”
“The only identification on the heeler was a local rabies tag, but it was current, and the collar new, so somebody cares about you, girl.”
“In explaining the term ward heeler, you described a heeler as “derived from a dog that a master brings to heel,” used to describe “a minor politician who slavishly followed his ward leader.””
“Father got vexed at last and makes a sign to old Crib; he fetches him such a 'heeler' as gave him something else to think of for a few miles.”
Robbery under Arms; a story of life and adventure in the bush and in the Australian goldfields
“To have fine clothes, drink champagne, and pose in a fashionable bar-room in the height of the season -- is not this the apotheosis of the "heeler" and the ward "worker"?”
The Complete Project Gutenberg Writings of Charles Dudley Warner
“Bob, his Aussie heeler, usually sat in the passenger seat.”
“Five Steps to Train Your Dog to Come When Called beagle bulldog mix, border collie blue heeler mix, boxer dalmatian mix, chow shepherd mix, German Shepherd, Lab retriever mix, mixed bred dogs, mixed breeds”
“I also have a blue heeler mix who is a squirrel machine.”
“In the bed stood Flash, one of two heeler cross rescues who'd lived with them all winter while Becky searched for what she called their “forever home.””
“Do you or any of your friends know of a blue heeler rescue club?”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘heeler’.
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phrontistery - h
from phrontistery.info
habanera, habergeon, habilable, habilatory, habile, habiliment, habilitate, habromania, hachure, hackle, hackney, hadal and 568 more...
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dogs and their relatives
dog dogs and more dogs anything
I can think of ,canids and their
relatives
my favourite African wild dog
all have 42 teethaffenpinscher, akita, alan, aland, alant, alopecoid, apso, bandog, barbet, basenji, basset, bawtie and 355 more...
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Rodeo
rodeo, rodeo clown, barrel racing, bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, bucking horse, bucking bronco, bronco, bull, steer and 57 more...
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Carlos' Words
monstropolous, absquatulate
triffid, calque, pinguid, refulgent, monstropolous, Seanchaí, clinquant, Chryselephantine ..., peavey, milium, swage, Burtillon, Burtil... and 263 more...
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Monovocalics
Words that have only one of the vowels. On this list I include only words with at least three vowels. When I first started the list, if a word had several forms, I generally listed only the one wit...
syzygy, mirific, cumulus, homolog, monocot, bedewed, jezebel, referee, bikini, minikin, locomotor, terebenthene and 2359 more...
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Words of the Times
Words discovered while reading The New York Times, each with a citation from the paper.
testilying, ghost talk, apneist, solastalgia, izakaya, hooker, telectroscope, airflyte, phomance, bromhidrosis, stinky feet, cupping and 482 more...
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Flattery Will Get You Everywhere
sycophant, yes man, brown noser, adulator, courtier, flatterer, toady, flunky, parasite, fawner, lickspittle, heeler and 49 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for heeler.
john “He made it clear that the issue was not Mr. Burris’s qualifications, but Gov. Blagojevich’s standing as a desperate ward heeler who’s lost all credibility.�?
The New York Times, The Latest From Illinois, December 30, 2008 Dec 31, 2008