close on the heels of

adjective

Near in time or place; very close.

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Meanings

adjectiveclose on the heels of (not comparable)
  1. idiomaticnot comparableNear in time or place; very close.
    1 more example

    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.

    1859, George Meredith, chapter 5, in The Ordeal of Richard Feverel. A History of Father and Son. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC
Cite this entry
APA

close on the heels of. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/close%20on%20the%20heels%20of

MLA

“close on the heels of.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/close%20on%20the%20heels%20of. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “close on the heels of,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/close%20on%20the%20heels%20of.

Source: close on the heels of on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.