heeler
English edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Audio (AU) (file)
Noun edit
heeler (plural heelers)
- A gamecock that strikes well with its heels or spurs.
- A quick runner.
- 1891, Banjo Paterson, An Evening in Dandaloo:
- That a crowd of Sydney stealers,
Jockeys, pugilists and spielers
Brought some horses, real heelers,
Came and put us through.
- A dog that readily comes to heel.
- 1999, Ted Baer, Communicating with Your Dog: A Humane Approach to Dog Training:
- If your dog is a good heeler, you'll find some competition in the obedience ring.
- (US, slang, politics, dated) A dependent and subservient hanger-on of a political patron.
- 1886, Theodore Roosevelt, “Machine Politics”, in The Century:
- The army of hungry heelers who do their bidding.
- The rodeo performer who ropes the steer by its hind feet after the header has turned it.
- (US) A student journalist at Yale University.