turn on one's heel

present singular third person turns on one's heel · participle present turning on one's heel · participle past turned on one's heel · past turned on one's heel

1. idiomaticTo suddenly turn away from someone or something in order to depart rapidly, especially as expressive of haughtiness, disapproval, or evasiveness.

   In one store she eyed a cotton dress, turned on her heel when she saw the $40 price tag.

   1949 May 9, “Unseasonal Weather”, in Time

   4 more examples

   There he stood, answering shortly and gruffly to all questions proposed to him, . . . and as soon as the ancient priestess had handed him his glass of the salutiferous water, turned on his heel with a brief good-morning.

   1824, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 9, in St. Ronan's Well

   "Well, Maude, he was on the platform this morning, and when he saw me, he turned on his heel and hurried out of the station."

   1899, Arthur Conan Doyle, chapter 14, in A Duet

   But Bernice, standing stiff and angry in the starlight, turned on her heel without a response.

   1906, Annie Fellows Johnston, chapter 14, in The Little Colonel: Maid of Honor

   When Mr. Bush finished his five-minute statement . . . he abruptly turned on his heel and strode from the room, ignoring all questions.

   2004 March 1, Elisabeth Bumiller, “On Gay Marriage, Bush May Have Said All He’s Going To”, in New York Times, retrieved 18 Jul 2011