| 释义 |
▪ I. heeler1|ˈhiːlə(r)|
[f. heel v.1 or n.1 + -er1.]
1. a. One who puts heels on shoes; cf. soler.
1665Canterbury Marriage Licences, George Robinson of Canterbury, heeler. 1884L. Gronlund Co-oper. Commw. viii. 179 The ‘heelers’ among the operatives in a shoe⁓factory.
b. (See quot.: cf. heel v. 2 b).
1831Johnson Sportsman's Cycl., Heeler, is the person who affixes the spur to the heel of a game cock.
2. A fighting cock, that uses his spurs or ‘heels’.
1688R. Holme Armoury ii. 252/1 A Heeler, or a Bloody⁓heel Cock..strikes or wounds much with his spurs. 1815Sporting Mag. XLVI. 24 Mark them for steady fighters, good heelers..and deep game.
3. a. One who has light heels; a quick runner.
1828Craven Dial., Heeler, a quick runner, active.
b. (See quots.)
1929F. C. Bowen Sea Slang 66 Heeler, a fast sailing ship. 1961F. H. Burgess Dict. Sailing 114 Heeler, a light fast sailing boat with a good performance; it is said to possess a good, or clean, pair of heels.
4. a. One who catches by the heels; one who trips up, undermines, or supplants.
a1638[see heel v.1 3]. 1850J. T. Wheeler Anal. O. Test. Hist. 14 Jacob signifying a heeler or one who heels or strikes up his adversary.
b. A working dog that urges animals, esp. cattle, onwards by nipping at their heels. Also (quot. 1888), a nip on the heels. Also blue heeler (blue a. 12 a). Austral.
1888‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xii, He fetches him [sc. the horse] such a ‘heeler’ as gave him something else to think of for a few miles. 1928‘Brent of Bin Bin’ Up Country 11 Bert's heelers and kangaroo dogs chased the packhorses ahead. 1940F. D. Davison Woman at Mill iii. 214 As thick as the hair on a heeler's back. 1945[see Australian cattle-dog s.v. Australian B adj. b]. 1959A. Upfield Bony & Black Virgin vii. 58 Bluey, the heeler dog, laid himself in the trough. 1966‘J. Hackston’ Father clears Out 116 Patting the Queensland heeler..that was..to be rechristened later on, ‘lousy mongrel’. 1968K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 139 He [sc. a dog] was a heeler, and it was his nature to attack from the rear.
5. One who follows at the heels of a leader or ‘boss’; an unscrupulous or disreputable follower of a professional politician. U.S.
a1877N.Y. Herald in Bartlett Dict. Amer. (1877) s.v., The politician, who has been a heeler about the capital. 1888Bryce Amer. Commw. II. iii. lxiii. 451 By degrees he rises to sit on the central committee, having..surrounded himself with a band of adherents, who are called his ‘heelers’, and whose loyalty..secured by the hope of ‘something good’, gives weight to his words. 1901Daily Chron. 6 Nov. 6/2 The assurance of the Tammany ‘Heelers’ was less blatant than usual. 1933H. G. Wells Shape of Things to Come iii. 311 The specialist demagogue, sustained by his gang and his heelers, his spies and secret police.
6. One who heels (cf. heel v.1 5 b).
1898Maclagan & Jeffery in W. A. Morgan ‘House’ on Sport 157 An English [Rugby football] team is an amalgam of heelers, wheelers, pushers (scarce), and sprinters.
▪ II. heeler2 colloq.
[f. heel v.2 + -er1.]
A lurch to one side; also, a boat inclined to lurch.
1894Times 6 Aug. 5/2 The wind came off in hard puffs. Each took a regular heeler as they crossed the mouth of the Medina. 1926R. Clements Stately Southerner 106 The ship herself was a heeler. |