to dig in one's heels
1
6.7
- idiom
- Informal
:
mantenerse firme
- Despite the objections from her colleagues, she decided to dig in her heels and stick to her original plan.
- dig in her heels and refuse
Examples
-
She suddenly dug in her heels and yelled, "Stop dragging me!" He turned and grinned down at her.
Fiction book (1994) -
Fayth dug in her heels and fought him.
Fiction book (2002) -
I had thought she would dig in her heels since she was deeply in love with someone else.
Fiction book (1997) -
So Brian, you gonna dig in your heels with Mr. 25%?
Blog text (19) -
It was the principle of the thing that had made her dig in her heels.
Fiction book (1990) -
In this case, once you opened with 'NOPE', she dug in her heels and switched into argument mode.
Blog text (25) -
So, anyway, after all that, the OP dug in her heels, and then everyone else dug in their heels right back.
Blog text (25) -
And I dug in my heels and spurned and shunned the other men.
-
She clutched me firmly with both hands and, while her lover pulled forward, she dug in her heels and held back.
Fiction book (2002) -
Had he been pushier about it, she’d probably have dug in her heels, but his being so nice made her feel guilty about saying no.
Fiction book (1999)
Synonyms
25
5.7
To keep your position when others disagree
22
3.7
Keep your decision or opinion when others try to make you change
9
4.5
To refuse to change your opinion or decision despite pressure
8
5.4
To refuse to change a decision or rule under pressure
4
6.4
Refuse to change your mind when others disagree
2
4.4
Keep the same decision even when others disagree
2
7.7
To refuse to change your mind and stay firm
1
7.8
Refuse to change an opinion or position at all
1
4.4
To state an opinion strongly and refuse to change it when others disagree
Antonyms
How Stubborn
- Informal
1
7.8
- Informal
1
6.7
- Informal
25
5.7
311
2.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
The expression uses a physical metaphor — literally digging one’s heels into the ground to resist being moved — so a learner who knows 'dig' and 'heels' can partly infer a sense of stubborn resistance. However, the idiomatic extension to 'refuse to change one's opinion' requires cultural/figurative knowledge and is not fully predictable from the parts for an average B1 learner, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The idiom dig in one's heels comes from the image of a person who digs their heels into the ground to stay where they are and not be moved. So it means 'to refuse to change one's mind'.