on the heels of

English

Alternative forms

• upon the heels of

Pronunciation

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Preposition

on the heels of

1. (idiomatic) In close pursuit of; close behind.
   • 1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 219:

     A quarrelsome band of footsore sulky niggers trod on the heels of the donkey.

   • 1915, Jack London, chapter 5, in Mutiny of the Elsinore:

     On the heels of the little lop-sided man appeared an overgrown dolt of a fat youth, followed by another youth.

   • 2001, Yonatan Netanyahu, The Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu, →ISBN, page 288:

     [T]he men got out quickly, the first ones running on the heels of those who had gotten out of the Mercedes.

   • 2023 April 5, Philip Haigh, “Comment: Pay deal a positive result”, in RAIL, number 980, page 3:

     Hard on the heels of of punctuality and reliabilty comes capacity. That's either trains frequent enough to meet demand, or long enough.

2. (idiomatic, of events, facts, etc.) Closely following; in succession immediately after.
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene vii]:

     One woe doth tread upon another's heel.

   • 1644, J[ohn] M[ilton], chapter 4, in The Doctrine or Discipline of Divorce: […], 2nd edition, London: [s.n.], →OCLC, book 2:

     To avoid these dreadful consequences, that tread upon the heels of those allowances to sin, will be a task of far more difficulty.

   • 1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter LXXVII, in Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC:

     [A] familiar voice chimed instantly in on the heels of my last word.

   • 1917, Upton Sinclair, chapter 32, in King Coal:

     [W]hen such accidents kept happening, one on the heels of another, even the most callous public could not help asking questions.

   • 2012 October 13, “Pakistan’s politics: The peace and love tour”, in The Economist:

     As it happened, the shooting came on the heels of a two-day “peace march” against American drone aircraft targeting suspected Islamist militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas close to the border with Afghanistan.

Usage notes

Commonly preceded by such verbs as follow, tread, come.

Derived terms

• hot on someone's heels

Translations

in close pursuit of

• French: sur les traces de, juste après, aussitôt après
• Polish: po piętach, na piętach
• Portuguese: no encalço
• Russian: наступа́я на пя́тки (nastupája na pjátki), по пятам (ru) (po pjatam)