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

Technological dominance has been tilting toward Moscow of late, exposing Ukraine’s vulnerability to Russia’s relentlessly modernizing war machine.

— Gerard Toal, The Conversation, 16 Oct. 2026
Hollywood’s center of gravity is increasingly tilting to the East Coast.

— Erik Hayden, HollywoodReporter, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of tilting

Verb

Any normal mattress would’ve been an improvement over our current one, a sub-$300 queen-size nightmare of sloping sides and too-springy springs.

— Jaklin Romine Oct. 15, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026
The brush was flattened and rivulets of water ran back toward the sound, which was now miraculously some 100 yards away down a sloping bank.

— Gerald R. Hunter, Outdoor Life, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of sloping

Verb

In the West, companies like to stay private a little longer, but Asian firms are leaning toward a more accelerated timeline, according to Lee, senior managing partner at Granite Asia.

— Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 20 Oct. 2026
But a crop of Senate candidates in more conservative-leaning states like Iowa, Texas, Kansas and Ohio, and Democratic hopefuls in newly competitive House districts, have surged in polls and fundraising.

— Stephen Fowler, NPR, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of leaning

Verb

The others were ruffians, teasers, always angling to drink whatever was left in some grownup’s glass.

— George Saunders, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2026
The free-agent signing who is angling for a starting position has played a team-high 97 minutes in four preseason games.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 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 21 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of heeling

verb

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