show one's heels

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Idioms and Phrases

Also, show a clean pair of heels . Run away, flee, as in He wanted to ask her out but she showed her heels before he had a chance , or As soon as the burglar alarm went off, the housebreaker showed a clean pair of heels . The backs of one's heels are exactly what is seen when one is running away, but the allusion of clean is a bit puzzling, unless it is meant in the colloquial sense of “thorough,” as in a clean getaway . [First half of 1500s]

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April 25, 2024firkin

[fur-kin ]

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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