kick one's heels
Verb

kick one's heels

  1. 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.
  2. (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...
Synonyms


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
Offline English dictionary