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HEEL

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Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 198 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HEEL . (I) (O. Eng. hela, cf. Dutch hiel; a derivative of O. Eng. la h, hough, hock), that See also:

part of the See also:foot in See also:man which is situated below and behind the See also:ankle; by See also:analogy, the calcaneal part of the See also:tarsus in other vertebrates. The heel proper in digitigrades and ungulates is raised off the ground and is commonly known as the "See also:knee" or " hock," while the See also:term " heel " is applied to the See also:hind hoofs. (2) (A variant of the earlier Meld; cf. Dutch hellen, for helden), to turn over to one See also:side, especially of a See also:ship. It is this word probably, in the sense of " tip-up," used particularly of the tilting or tipping of a cask or See also:barrel of liquor, that explains the origin of the expression " no heel-taps," a direction to the drinkers of a See also:toast to drain their glasses and leave no dregs remaining. " Tap " is a See also:common word for liquor, and a cask is said to be " heeled " when it is tipped and only dregs or muddy liquor are See also:left. This suits the actual sense of the phrase better than the explanations which connect it with tapping the " heel " or bottom of the See also:glass (see Notes and Queries, 4th See also:series, vols. xi.—xii., and 5th series, vol. i.).

End of Article: HEEL

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