Word.ws English Dictionary

upon the heels of

upon the heels of is the alternative form of on the heels of.

Meaning of on the heels of

Preposition

on the heels of

  1. (idiomatic) In 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...
  2. (idiomatic, usually, facts) Closely 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...

Questions about upon the heels of

What is upon the heels of the alternative form of?
Upon the heels of is the alternative form of on the heels of.

Words near upon the heels of in the dictionary

  1. upon reflection
  2. upon the back of
  3. upon the books
  4. upon the by
  5. upon the carpet
  6. upon the heels of
  7. upon the instant
  8. upon the matter
  9. upon the pad
  10. upon the point of
  11. upon the square

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: upon the heels of (page history and authors); on the heels of (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “upon the heels of.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/upon_the_heels_of. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.