to lay by the heels
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To render powerless. The allusion is to the stocks, in which vagrants and other petty offenders were confined by the ankles.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to lay by the heels” mean?
To render powerless. The allusion is to the stocks, in which vagrants and other petty offenders were confined by the ankles.
Is “to lay by the heels” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.