close on the heels of

English

Adjective

close on the heels of (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic) Near in time or place; very close.
   • 1859, George Meredith, chapter 5, in The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. A History of Father and Son. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC:

     So back they ran to the Abbey, dodged the Baronet, armed themselves, and got the old pointer Mark'em (named after his profession and the keeper at a blow) close to their heels, and, by skirting outhouses and slinking under walls, escaped to the security that favors the commencement of adventures of this sort, and made for the coverts of the park.

See also

• hot on someone's heels