HEELING Synonyms: 25 Similar and Opposite Words

heeling

verb

present participle of heel

as in tilting

to set or cause to be at an angle the strong gust heeled the sailboat almost to the point of capsizing, but we managed to right it

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of heeling In order to keep the lightweight watercraft from heeling over completely, crew members frantically scurry back and forth onto planks that are suspended out above the water on each side, rising and falling like seasick seesaws. — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 15 May 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for heeling

Verb

Celebrity CEOs in the feed What’s changed over the past few years is that the format of executive communications is tilting toward social‑native content.

— Rachel Ventresca, Fortune, 5 July 2026
Since summer’s first day on June 21, the days have been growing shorter as the Northern Hemisphere slowly starts tilting toward autumn.

— Charles Seabrook, AJC.com, 4 July 2026

Definition of tilting

Verb

Then there is the fate of the incumbent, who fled Tibet’s capital Lhasa for India in 1959 just days before red Chinese troops bombarded the sloping granite walls of his Potala Palace home.

— Charlie Campbell, Time, 9 July 2026
The sloping roofs achieve this in a way that benefits both residents in their apartments and visitors in the streets.

— Bridget Borgobello July 04, New Atlas, 4 July 2026

Definition of sloping

Verb

Rusak had spent months showing Ngo flat, organic-leaning designs before something shifted.

— Jessica Salter, CNN Money, 7 July 2026
Lawyers with the left-leaning Public Citizen Litigation Group argue the administration began sharing information about the applications with Iran in March 2025.

— Ximena Bustillo, NPR, 7 July 2026

Definition of leaning

Verb

Johnson had been angling for such a resolution since the last weeks of 1963 and had begun discussing it in earnest the following February.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 July 2026
David Zaslav announced plans to split up WBD in June, and a few months later, Paramount and Netflix were angling to take over the whole company.

— Josef Adalian, Vulture, 1 July 2026

Definition of angling

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heeled

heeling

heels

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“Heeling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/heeling. Accessed 14 Jul. 2026.

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Synonyms of heeling

verb

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