hot on someone's heels

adjective

Close behind; pursuing or following closely.

“She left the restaurant with him hot on her heels.”

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Meanings

adjectivehot on someone's heels (not comparable)
  1. idiomaticnot comparableClose behind; pursuing or following closely.

    She left the restaurant with him hot on her heels.

    2 more examples

    Newcastle beat Bolton to increase the pressure on the Londoners, while Chelsea are also hot on the heels of faltering Tottenham, who have one win from their last eight games.

    2012 April 9, Mandeep Sanghera, “Tottenham 1 - 2 Norwich”, in BBC Sport

    Hot on the heels of Network Rail remodelling King's Cross comes news of cuts to East Coast Main Line services.

    2021 June 30, Philip Haigh, “Regional trains squeezed as ECML congestion heads north”, in RAIL, number 934, page 52

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
hot on the trail

Translations

Catalan a l'encalç
  • a l'encalçclose behind
Finnish olla kintereillä
  • olla kintereilläclose behind
French aux trousses de
  • aux trousses declose behind
German dicht auf den Fersen
  • dicht auf den Fersenclose behind
Italian alle calcagna
  • alle calcagnaclose behind
Polish depcząc komuś po piętach
  • depcząc komuś po piętachclose behind
Swedish hack i häl
  • hack i hälclose behind
Cite this entry
APA

hot on someone's heels. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hot%20on%20someone's%20heels

MLA

“hot on someone's heels.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hot%20on%20someone's%20heels. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hot on someone's heels,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hot%20on%20someone's%20heels.

Source: hot on someone's heels on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.