show a clean pair of heels

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

show a clean pair of heels (third-person singular simple present shows a clean pair of heels, present participle showing a clean pair of heels, simple past showed a clean pair of heels, past participle shown a clean pair of heels)

1. (idiomatic) To run away; to make an escape quickly.
   • 1859, Charles Dickens, edited by Richard Maxwell, A Tale of Two Cities‎^[1], Book the Second, Penguin Classics, published 2003, →ISBN, Chapter XXIV, page 249:

     ‘[...]No, gentlemen; he'll always show ’em a clean pair of heels very early in the scuffle, and sneak away.’

   • 1959 March, Cecil J. Allen, “Locomotive Running Past and Present”, in Trains Illustrated, page 133:

     But in the second column the "Britannia" Pacific , though with one coach less, showed a cleaner pair of heels, [...].

   • 1977, Brian Schofield, edited by Gerald Jordan, Naval Warfare In The Twentieth Century 1900—1945‎^[2], Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, ‘Jacky’ Fisher, HMS Indomitable and the Dogger Bank Action: A Personal Memoir, page 66:

     The two German ships soon showed us and the battle-cruiser Indefatigable in company, a clean pair of heels, though the cruiser HMS Dublin managed to keep them in sight until they disappeared into the Straits of Messina to coal.

   • 2005 April, Bernard Brown, “The Sherlock Holmes of ‘G’ Division”, in Dan Norder, editor, Ripper Notes‎^[3], number 22, Inklings Press, →ISBN, page 33:

     During the melee the suspect had run off, showing a clear pair of heels.