on the heels of

preposition

In close pursuit of; close behind.

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Meanings

preposition

alternative upon the heels of

  1. idiomaticIn close pursuit of; close behind.

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

    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, column 2
    4 more examples

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

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

    Hard on the heels of the last Ostend boat train comes the first Calais train to connect with the sailing of the Invicta from Berth 2 directly opposite the platform end.

    1959 October 28, T. W. E. Roche, “Traffic Working at Dover Marine Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 680

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

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

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

    2023 April 5, Philip Haigh, “Comment: Pay deal a positive result”, in RAIL, number 980, page 3
  2. idiomaticusuallyfactsClosely following; in succession immediately after.

    One woe doth tread upon another's heel.

    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]
    4 more examples

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

    1643, J[ohn] M[ilton], chapter 4, in The Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce: […], London: […] T[homas] P[aine] and M[atthew] S[immons] […], →OCLC

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

    1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “”, in Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC, page 553

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

    1917, Upton Sinclair, chapter 32, in King Coal

    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.

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

Translations

French sur les traces de, juste après
  • sur les traces dein close pursuit of
  • juste aprèsin close pursuit of
  • aussitôt aprèsin close pursuit of
Polish po piętach, na piętach
  • po piętachin close pursuit of
  • na piętachin close pursuit of
Portuguese no encalço
  • no encalçoin close pursuit of
Russian наступа́я на пя́тки, по пятам
  • наступа́я на пя́тки (nastupája na pjátki)in close pursuit of
  • по пятам (po pjatam)in close pursuit of
Swedish hack i häl
  • hack i hälin close pursuit of
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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