heel vs shoehorn

heel

noun
  • The part of a shoe's sole which supports the foot's heel. 

  • The act of inclining or canting from a vertical position; a cant. 

  • A woman's high-heeled shoe. 

  • Anything resembling a human heel in shape; a protuberance; a knob. 

  • The base of a bun sliced in half lengthwise. 

  • The last or lowest part of anything. 

  • The short side of an angled cut. 

  • A headlining wrestler regarded as a "bad guy," whose ring persona embodies villainous or reprehensible traits and demonstrates characteristics of a braggart and a bully. 

  • The rear part of a sock or similar covering for the foot. 

  • In a carding machine, the part of a flat nearest the cylinder. 

  • The junction between the keel and the stempost of a vessel; an angular wooden join connecting the two. 

  • A contemptible, unscrupulous, inconsiderate or thoughtless person. 

  • The part of a club head's face nearest the shaft. 

  • The obtuse angle of the lower end of a rafter set sloping. 

  • The lower end of the bit (cutting edge) of an axehead; as opposed to the toe (upper end). 

  • The rear part of the foot, where it joins the leg. 

  • The back, upper part of the stock. 

  • The part of the palm of a hand closest to the wrist. 

  • The cards set aside for later use in a patience or solitaire game. 

  • A crust end-piece of a loaf of bread. 

  • The lower end of a timber in a frame, as a post or rafter. 

verb
  • To add a heel to, or increase the size of the heel of (a shoe or boot). 

  • To incline to one side; to tilt. 

  • To arm with a gaff, as a cock for fighting. 

  • To follow at somebody's heels; to chase closely. 

  • To perform by the use of the heels, as in dancing, running, etc. 

  • To hit (the ball) with the heel of the club. 

  • To make (a fair catch) standing with one foot forward, the heel on the ground and the toe up. 

  • To kick with the heel. 

shoehorn

noun
  • A smooth tool that assists in putting the foot into a shoe, by sliding the heel in after the toe is in place. This reduces discomfort and damage to the back of the shoe. By slipping it into the back of the shoe behind the heel, the user prevents the heel from squashing down the back of the shoe and causing difficulty; instead the heel slides down the smooth shoehorn, which then comes out easily once the foot is in place. 

  • Anything by which a transaction is facilitated; a medium. 

verb
  • To use a shoehorn. 

  • To force (something) into (a tight space); to squeeze (something) into (a schedule, etc); to exert great effort to insert or include (something); to include (something) despite potent reasons not to. 

  • To force some current event into alignment with some (usually unconnected) agenda, especially when it is fallacious. 

How often have the words heel and shoehorn occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )