ˈheel-tap, n.
1. One of the thicknesses or ‘lifts’ of leather (or other material) of which a shoe-heel is made.
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 324/2 A false quarter shooe..hath one of the Heel Taps cut off. 1797 Wolcott (P. Pindar) Out at Last Wks. 1812 III. 494 With heeltaps, toe-caps, soles for worn out fame. c 1850 Nat. Encycl. I. 240 The imports of Herat..lemon-juice, and ivory heel-taps. 1954 J. Steinbeck Sweet Thursday 136 Run up the street to Wildock's and get new heel-taps on these [shoes]. |
2. a. The liquor left at the bottom of a glass after drinking; also, the fag-end of a bottle.
heel-tap glass, one without shank or foot.
| 1780 Bannatyne Mirror No. 76 ¶13 Having, it seems, left a little more than was proper in the bottom of his glass, he was saluted with a call of ‘No heeltaps!’ 1820–36 [see daylight 3]. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop lxii, ‘Toss it off, don't leave any heeltap.’ 1859 L. Oliphant Earl Elgin's Miss. to China I. 203 Obliging us to turn over our glasses each time as a security against heel-taps. 1933 C. St. J. Sprigg Fatality in Fleet St. v. 55 Wait, I have still a heel-tap. I must drink a toast. |
| attrib. 1897 Pall Mall Mag. June 158 Old heel-tap glasses with toasts engraved round the rim. |
b. fig. The last or end part of anything.
| 1894 Blackmore Perlycross 75 Her heart was full again, and the heel-tap of a sob would have been behind her words. |
Hence
heel-tap v. trans., (
a) to add a piece of leather to the heel of (a shoe); also
fig.; (
b) to delay. So
heel-tapping vbl. n.| 1763 Brit. Mag. IV. 38 A great club who sit till break of day to heel-tap the nation; which, they say, is also run out at the toes. 1909 Westm. Gaz. 15 May 2/3 He riveted china, and clumped or heel-tapped boots. 1958 M. McMinnies Visitors 491 Twenty-four hours to git—and no heel-tapping. 1968 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 19 Dec. 4/8 To put it bluntly the government is heel-tapping and will continue to do so until and unless all those affected make themselves heard. |