hot on someone's heels
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Following someone very closely
Literally: close behind someone's feet
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The detective was hot on the thief's heels
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “hot on someone's heels” mean?
Following someone very closely Literally: close behind someone's feet
Is “hot on someone's heels” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.