on the heels of
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
immediately after something
Literally: at the back of someone's heels
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The company announced a new product on the heels of their competitor's launch
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.
Equivalents & related
Common questions
What does “on the heels of” mean?
immediately after something Literally: at the back of someone's heels
Is “on the heels of” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
What is the closest equivalent?
“theo gót” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.