kick one's heels
Verb
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Verb
kick one's heels
- Used other than with a figurative or idiomatic meaning: see kick, heels
- The restless boy kicked his heels against the chair legs.
- The dancer kicked her heels as high as her shoulders.
- (idiomatic) To wait; to wait impatiently or restlessly.
- 1830, The Edinburgh Literary Journal, Volume 1, [http://books.google.com.au/books?id=I08FAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA231&dq=%22kick+his|her|their+heels%22&hl=en&ei=o4beTcHAMJGYvAP18aHXBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=27&ved=0CK0BEOgBMBo#v=onepage&q=%22kick%20his|her|their%20heels%22&f=false page 231]:
- […] whether, in one single instance, any individual has been obliged to kick his heels in the lobby even for one minute, and whether the order was not instantly granted ?
- 1893, Robert Louis Stevenson, Catriona, Dedication: To Charles Baxter:
- It is the fate of sequels to disappoint those who have waited for them; and my David, having been left to kick his heels for more than a lustre in the British Linen Company’s office, must expect his late re-appearance to be greeted with hoots, if not with missiles.
- 1999, Denis Diderot, David Coward (translator), Jacques the Fatalist, [http://books.google.com.au/books?id=oJ7qCzCI1NIC&pg=PA37&dq=%22kick+his|her|their+heels%22&hl=en&ei=o4beTcHAMJGYvAP18aHXBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=40&ved=0CO0BEOgBMCc#v=onepage&q=%22kick%20his|her|their%20heels%22&f=false page 37]:
- […] the older fathers were left to kick their heels in their empty booths, which made them very cross...
- 1830, The Edinburgh Literary Journal, Volume 1, [http://books.google.com.au/books?id=I08FAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA231&dq=%22kick+his|her|their+heels%22&hl=en&ei=o4beTcHAMJGYvAP18aHXBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=27&ved=0CK0BEOgBMBo#v=onepage&q=%22kick%20his|her|their%20heels%22&f=false page 231]:
- (to wait impatiently or restlessly) be left kicking, bide one's time, cool one's heels; See also Thesaurus:wait
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.002