heeler

Noun

heeler (plural heelers)

1. A gamecock that strikes well with its heels or spurs.
2. A quick runner.
   • That a crowd of Sydney stealers,
     Jockeys, pugilists and spielers
     Brought some horses, real heelers,
     Came and put us through.1891, Banjo Paterson, An Evening in Dandaloo
3. A dog that readily comes to heel.
   • If your dog is a good heeler, you'll find some competition in the obedience ring.1999, Ted Baer, Communicating with Your Dog: A Humane Approach to Dog Training
4. (Australia) A dog used for cattle droving.
   • [A] blue roan, a kind of dog that Jennifer had never seen before. She asked Tim what it was, and he said it was a "heeler", but when she pressed him to say if that was a breed or not, he could not tell her. It was a heeler because it went for the heels of the cattle and not their heads, apparently.1952, Nevil Shute, chapter 5, in The Far Country, Melbourne: Heinemann
5. (US, dated, slang) A dependent and subservient hanger-on of a political patron.
   • The army of hungry heelers who do their bidding.1886, Theodore Roosevelt, “Machine Politics”, in The Century
6. The rodeo performer who ropes the steer by its hind feet after the header has turned it.
7. (US) A student journalist at Yale University.