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tail¹ Definition

tail (tāl)

noun

    1. the rear end of an animal's body, esp. when forming a distinct, flexible appendage to the trunk
    2. such an appendage
  2. anything like an animal's tail in form or position the tail of a shirt
  3. a luminous train behind a comet or meteor
  4. the hind, bottom, last, or inferior part of anything
  5. the reverse side of a coin
  6. a long braid or tress of hair
  7. a train of followers or attendants; retinue
  8. the lower end of a pool or stream
    1. the rear or back section of an aircraft
    2. a set of stabilizing planes at the rear of an airplane
    3. the rear part of a rocket or missile
  10. ☆
    1. tailcoat
    2. full-dress attire for men
  11. Informal a person or vehicle that follows another, esp. in surveillance
  12. Slang the buttocks
  13. Slang, Vulgar
    1. sexual intercourse with a woman
    2. a woman regarded as a sexual partner
  14. Printing the bottom of a page
  15. Prosody the short line or lines ending certain stanzas or verse forms

Etymology: ME < OE tægel, akin to OHG zagel < IE base *de-, to tear, tear off > Sans saśā, fringe

adjective

  1. at the rear or rear end
  2. from the rear a tail wind

transitive verb

  1. to provide with a tail
  2. to cut or detach the tail or taillike part from
  3. to form the tail or end of, as of a group or procession; be at the rear or end of
  4. to fasten or connect at or by the tail
  5. to fasten one end of (a brick, board, etc.) into a wall, etc.: with in or on
  6. ☆ Slang to follow stealthily; shadow

intransitive verb

  1. to straggle
  2. to become gradually smaller or fainter: with off or away
  3. to be fastened into a wall, etc. by one end: said of a brick or board
  4. ☆ Informal to follow close behind
  5. Naut. to go aground or be anchored stern foremost

tail¹ Related Forms
tail′·less adjective tail′·like′ adjective
tail¹ Idioms

on someone's tail

☆

following or shadowing someone closely

turn tail

to run from danger, difficulty, hardship, etc.

with one's tail between one's legs

in defeat or in escape from expected defeat, esp. with fear or dejection

tail² Definition

tail (tāl)

noun

entail ( & )

Etymology: ME taile < OFr taille, a cutting < taillier: see tailor

adjective

limited in a specific way, as to certain heirs or order of succession

tail Synonyms

tail

n.

  1. The prolongation of the spinal column

    rear end, rear appendage, extremity, stub, hind part, caudal appendage, cauda (Latin), coccyx, brush, scut, flag, dock, rudder*, cue*, fly swatter*, tassel*, wagger*; see also rear.

  2. The end of anything, especially if elongated

    last part, hindmost part, tailpiece; see end 4.

    Antonyms origin*, head, beginning.

  3. The rear of an aircraft].

    Parts in the tail of an airplane include: empennage, tail group, rudder, tail assembly, tail skid, stabilizer, diving rudder, horizontal tail fin, elevator, airfoil.

on one's tail*

behind, shadowing, trailing; see following.

turn tail*

run away, evade, avoid; see escape.

with one's tail between one's legs*

in defeat, in fear, humbly, dejectedly; see fearfully.

tail Finance Definition
  1. In Treasury auctions, the difference between the lowest competitive bid that was accepted and the average bid by all of those offering to buy the particular Treasury security.
  2. In the insurance industry, the time between when premiums are received and benefits need to be paid. For example, a reinsurance company, which provides coverage to other insurance companies, has a long tail because their coverage is called on only if the insurance company incurred certain amounts of losses.
tail Law Definition
See fee tail.
tail Usage Examples

Object

  • godwit: The first black tailed godwits were found and lots more stilts and stints.

Converse of object

  • wag: The diabetes took your sight and with it your smile, but the tail still wagged.
  • fork: A being with horns and a forked tail is a myth.

Adjective modifier

  • bushy: They are about twice the size of a domestic cat, with tabby markings and a long bushy tail.
  • kinked: The squint and kinked tail have been bred out and rarely appear in the modern breed.
  • curly: The heavy head alighted just above the root of the boar's curly tail.

Modifies a noun

  • feather: A token of their ancestry will be seen in the curly tail feathers of the drakes.
  • fin: The black craft was a perfect triangle, with no jagged edges or visible rear tail fin.
  • fluke: Tail flukes are pointed at the tips with a concave trailing edge and a deep median notch.
  • rotor: No tail rotor, making it 50 per cent quieter.
  • wag: That would be to let the tail wag the dog.
  • ender: Unable to find any support Clifford himself was bowled and the tail enders were left to play for bonus points and a possible draw.

Noun used with modifier

  • pheasant: The big trout trigger points on this fly are the trailing pheasant tail legs, which identify this fly to the fish.
  • pony: I'm going to claim that pony tail of his as a trophy.
  • lobster: All of the lobster tails breaded george lucas science-fiction the rocks along.
  • crayfish: The smart restaurant serves fantastic tapas dishes throughout the day - including Parma ham crisps, crayfish tails and baby octopus.

Possessives

  • peacock: Hence, for example, the peacock's tail.

Preposition: of

  • underachievement: The results show in Table 3 that the early intervention virtually eliminated the potential tail of underachievement.
  • pancreas: Spiral computed tomography of the pancreas showed a 3 x 2.5 cm mass in the region of the tail of the pancreas.
  • comet: The solar wind has large effects on the tails of comets and even has measurable effects on the trajectories of spacecraft.
tail Quotes

How doth the little crocodile Improve his shining tail, And pour the waters of the Nile On every golden scale! How cheerfully he seems to grin, How neatly spreads his claws, And welcomes little fishes in, With gently smiling jaws!

—Dodgson

Thou art a beaten dog beneath the hail, A swollen magpie in a fitful sun, Half black half white Nor knowst'ou wing from tail Pull down thy vanity.

—Pound, Ezra Loomis

'Will you walk a little faster?'said a whiting to a snail, 'There's a porpoise close behind us and he's treading on my tail.'

—Dodgson

When people call this beast to mind, They marvel more and more At such a little tail behind, So large a trunk before.

—Belloc, (Joseph) Hilaire Pierre

  Brother, thy tail hangs down behind!

—Kipling, (Joseph) Rudyard

As I get older I perceive Life has its tail in its mouth.

—Ferlinghetti, Lawrence

   We know that the tail must wag the dog, for the horse is drawn by the cart; But the Devil whoops, as he whooped of old: 'It's clever, but is it Art?'

—Kipling, (Joseph) Rudyard

By viewing nature, nature's handmaid art, Makes mighty things from small beginnings grow: Thus fishes first to shipping did impart, Their tail the rudder, and their head the prow.

—Dryden,John

'All right,'said the Cat; and this time it vanished quite slowly, beginning with the end of the tail, and ending with thegrin, whichremained sometime after therest of it had gone.

—Dodgson

America is a large, friendly dog in a very small room. Every time it wags its tail, it knocks over a chair.

—Toynbee, Arnold Joseph

And he went back through the Wet Wild Woods, waving his wild tail and walking by his wild lone.But he never told anybody.

—Kipling, (Joseph) Rudyard

'Extremes meet', as the whiting said with its tail in its mouth.

—Honorius of Autun

Browse dictionary entries near tail

  1. ‹ taiga
  2. ‹ Taichung
  3. ‹ tai chi
  4. ‹ Tai
  5. ‹ tahr
  6. ‹ Tahoe
  7. ‹ Tahitian
  8. ‹ Tahiti
  9. ‹ tahini
  10. ‹ Tagus
  1. tail circuit ›
  2. tail covert ›
  3. tail end ›
  4. tail, estate in ›
  5. tail fin ›
  6. tail wind ›
  7. tailback ›
  8. tailboard ›
  9. tailbone ›
  10. tailcoat ›