on the heels of | Idiomator

Meaning: (idiomatic)In closepursuitof; closebehind.1899February,Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, inBlackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company,[…],→OCLC, part I,page219, column 2:A quarrelsome band of footsore sulky niggers trodon the heels ofthe donkey.1915,Jack London, chapter 5, inMutiny of the Elsinore:On the heels ofthe little lop-sided man appeared an overgrown dolt of a fat youth, followed by another youth.2001,Yonatan Netanyahu,The Letters of Jonathan Netanyahu,→ISBN,page288:[T]he men got out quickly, the first ones runningon the heels ofthose who had gotten out of the Mercedes.2023April 5, Philip Haigh, “Comment: Pay deal a positive result”, inRAIL, number980, page 3:Hardon the heels ofof punctuality and reliabilty comes capacity. That's either trains frequent enough to meet demand, or long enough.; (idiomatic,of events, facts, etc.)Closelyfollowing; insuccessionimmediately after.c.1599–1602(date written),William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…](First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard, andEd[ward]Blount, published1623,→OCLC,[Act IV, scene vii]:One woe doth treadupon another's heel.1643,J[ohn] M[ilton], chapter 4, inThe Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce:[…], London:[…]T[homas]P[aine]and M[atthew]S[immons][…],→OCLC:To avoid these dreadful consequences, that treadupon the heels ofthose allowances to sin, will be a task of far more difficulty.1870–1871(date written),Mark Twain[pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter LXXVII, inRoughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company[et al.], published1872,→OCLC,page553:[A] familiar voice chimed instantly inon the heels ofmy last word,[…]1917,Upton Sinclair, chapter 32, inKing Coal:[W]hen such accidents kept happening, oneon the heels ofanother, even the most callous public could not help asking questions.2012October 13, “Pakistan’s politics: The peace and love tour”, inThe Economist:As it happened, the shooting cameon the heels ofa two-day “peace march” against American drone aircraft targeting suspected Islamist militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas close to the border with Afghanistan.

Examples:

EN: Lord Bracondale was close on the heels of Mrs. McBride when she arrived in Paris.
ES: LORD BRACONDALE LE PISABA LOS TALONES A LA SEÑORA MCBRIDE CUANDO ELLA LLEGÓ A PARÍS.
EN: witness the miracle on the heels of the truth:
ES: Y damos fe del milagro en honor a la verdad.
EN: Sheridan is printing astonishing speed coming on the heels of Cambridge.
ES: Sheridan va a una velocidad de vértigo a la zaga de Lamb.
EN: Your Grace will recall she released Thorpe... after his attack upon my ship... and that on the heels of this offense she allowed the Albatross to sail... presumably to trade in Egypt.
ES: Su Alteza recordará que dejó libre a Thorpe... después de atacar mi barco... y que tras perpetrar esta ofensa permitió zarpar al Albatros, supongo que para comerciar en Egipto.
EN: They slipped out quietly through my window on the heels of the pirate jesters.
ES: Me deslicé sin hacer ruido siguiendo los pasos de los hombres de ese pirata.
EN: I came right up on the heels of it.
ES: He venido a toda prisa.
EN: The "Giros" break out in a pack, on the heels of the Professor... who has outdistanced all.
ES: Los ciclistas se lanzan tras la estela del profesor, que desde la salida se ha distanciado de todos.
EN: That you leave right on the heels of arrival makes me wonder why so little of my company should go so far.
ES: Vuestra marcha nada más llegar a mis aposentos me hace preguntarme por qué mi compañía no os es grata.
EN: Now, traveling along with them, hot on the heels of two fast-moving presidential hopefuls, you are about to see a candidates view of this frantic process and an intimate view of the candidates themselves in their cars and buses,
ES: Ahora, viajando con ellos, siguiendo los ágiles pasos de los candidatos a la presidencia, ustedes acompañarán las plataformas de cada uno en ese frenético proceso... y tendrán una visión íntima de los candidatos mismos... en sus coches, autobuses,
EN: But he's picking up again... and is hot on the heels of McQuick, Gassolini and Anderson.
ES: Ahí llega otra vez, ¡justo por detrás de McQuick, Gassolini y Ronny Middel-Svensson!
EN: (MAN) "Thaw follows frost, hard on the heels of spring
ES: "Han huido las nieves y ya vuelve el verdor a los campos..."
EN: And I urge all you parents... to do anything possible to keep your children far away... from the disgraceful kinds of goings-on... which apparently follow on the heels of this new music... and of those who perform it!
ES: Y es para eso que les pregunto a todos los padres para hacer todo lo posible Para mantener a sus niños alejados a los que dieron este tipo indigno de evento, que acompaña a esta puerca música Y de aquellos que la presentan!
EN: That coming on the heels of a better than expected earnings estimate for the coming quarter.
ES: Más del 3.5%, con un estimado de ganancias mucho mejor de lo esperado.
EN: The incident comes on the heels of farmers across the county reporting missing - and mutilated animals.
ES: Granjeros reportan en todo el condado animales desaparecidos y mutilados.
EN: As far as future employment nobody will hire a pretty young woman fresh on the heels of a sex-discrimination suit.
ES: pero un trabajo en el futuro nadie contratará a una mujer joven y guapa que recién ganó una demanda por discriminación sexual.

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