cooling heels
Impatient delay endured
Cooling heels describes waiting, usually with impatience and often because someone in authority has made you wait.
The image is of someone standing or sitting idle long enough for their heels—hot from walking—to cool down.
She left me cooling my heels in the lobby for an hour.
The phrase typically implies the wait is deliberate or inconsiderate.
- waitingRemaining in expectation
- waiting roomSpace for anticipating service
- impatientUnwilling to wait
- delayEnforced waiting period
- boredLacking interest or engagement
restless · fidgeting · lobby · anteroom · bench · sitting · sitting tight · idle · killing time · marking time · biding time · twiddling thumbs · standing around · kicking around · patience · frustration · appointment · queue
- waitingwait, await, bide, hold on, hang on
- idlenessdoing nothing, idling, loafing, lounging, lazing
- stallingstall, stalling, delay, hesitate, procrastinate
- Idle Phrasesidle hands, twiddling thumbs, killing time, at rest, doing nothing
cooling heelsfast-tracked
Accelerated through a process
expedited · ushered in · jumping the queue · queue jumping · priority service
cooling heelsgetting down to business
Focusing on the task
getting things done · in action · on the move · hitting the ground running · in the thick of it
cooling heelsVIP treatment
Preferential service for notables
red carpet treatment · rolling out the red carpet · preferential treatment · white-glove service · top priority
cool, cools, cooled, cooler, coolest, coolly, coolness, coolant, heel