cool your heels

cool (one's) heels

To wait, sometimes so that one becomes calmer or more composed. You need to cool your heels for a minute and stop yelling at the staff—they didn't do anything wrong. We were excited, but we had to cool our heels when the release date for the new game got pushed back.
See also: cool, heel

cool your heels

be kept waiting.
A British variant of this is kick your heels .
See also: cool, heel

ˌcool your ˈheels

(informal) be kept waiting: The bank manager had asked to see her at four o’clock but she had to sit cooling her heels for almost 45 minutes.
See also: cool, heel
References in periodicals archive ?
In just over 12 hours you could be heading straight for palm-fringed perfection, instead of having to cool your heels at Bangkok or another airport first.
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It's a simple, fun place to cool your heels after hours of sightseeing.
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I'm going to let you cool your heels in the cell at Fort William until the inspector gets back.
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Trying to avoid being forced to cool your heels somewhere in transit?
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