subs. (American).—1. Followers or henchmen of a politician or a party.
1888. Denver Republican, 29 Feb. The HEELERS and strikers, bummers and stuffers, otherwise known as practical politicians, who do the work at the Democratic polls, and manipulate the primaries and local conventions.
1888. New York Herald, 4 Nov. A band succeeded them and preceded a lot of ward HEELERS and floaters.
2. (American).—A bar, or other loafer; anyone on the look-out for shady work.
3. (American thieves’).—An accomplice in the pocket-book RACKET (q.v.). [The HEELER draws attention, by touching the victim’s heels, to a pocket-book containing counterfeit money which has been let drop by a companion, with a view to inducing the victim to part with genuine coin for a division of the find.]
4. (Winchester College).—A plunge, feet foremost, into water. Fr., une chandelle.
