tail 1 (t l)n.1. The posterior part of an animal, especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body. 2. The bottom, rear, or hindmost part: the tail of a shirt. 3. The rear end of a wagon or other vehicle. 4. a. The rear portion of the fuselage of an aircraft. b. An assembly of stabilizing planes and control surfaces in this rear portion. 5. The vaned rear portion of a bomb or missile. 6. An appendage to the rear or bottom of a thing: the tail of a kite. 7. The long luminous stream of gas and dust forced from the head of a comet when it is close to the sun. 8. A braid of hair; a pigtail. 9. Something that follows or takes the last place: the tail of a journey. 10. A train of followers; a retinue. 11. The end of a line of persons or things. 12. The short closing line of certain stanzas of verse. 13. The refuse or dross remaining from processes such as distilling or milling. 14. Printing The bottom of a page; the bottom margin. 15. (used with a sing. verb) The side of a coin not having the principal design and the date. Often used in the plural with a singular verb. 16. Informal The trail of a person or an animal in flight. 17. Informal A person assigned or employed to follow and report on someone else's movements and actions: The police put a tail on the suspected drug dealer. 18. tailsa. A formal evening costume typically worn by men. b. A tailcoat. 19. a. Slang The buttocks. b. Vulgar Slang A sexual partner, especially a woman. adj.1. Of or relating to a tail or tails: tail feathers. 2. Situated in the tail, as of an airplane: a tail gunner. v. tailed, tail·ing, tails v.tr.1. To provide with a tail: tail a kite. 2. To deprive of a tail; dock. 3. To serve as the tail of: The Santa Claus float tailed the parade. 4. To connect (often dissimilar or incongruous objects) by or as if by the tail or end: tail two ideas together. 5. Architecture To set one end of (a beam, board, or brick) into a wall. 6. Informal To follow and keep under surveillance. v.intr.1. To become lengthened or spaced when moving in a line: The patrol tailed out in pairs. 2. Architecture To be inserted at one end into a wall, as a floor timber or beam. 3. Informal To follow: tailed after the leader. 4. Nautical a. To go aground with the stern foremost. b. To lie or swing with the stern in a named direction, as when riding at anchor or on a mooring. 5. Sports To veer from a straight course in the direction of the dominant hand of the player propelling the ball: a pitch that tails away from the batter. Phrasal Verbs: tail down To ease a heavy load down a steep slope. tail off/away To diminish gradually; dwindle or subside: The fireworks tailed off into darkness.
[Middle English, from Old English tægel.]
tail less adj. |
tail 2 (tl) Law n. Limitation of the inheritance of an estate to a particular party. adj. Law Being in tail: a tail estate.
[Middle English taille, from Old French, division, from taillier, to cut; see tailor.] |
tail 1 Noun 1. the rear part of an animal's body, usually forming a long thin flexible part attached to the trunk Related adjective caudal 2. any long thin part projecting or hanging from the back or end of something: the waiter produced menus from beneath the tail of his coat 3. the last part: the tail of the procession 4. the rear part of an aircraft 5. Astron the luminous stream of gas and dust particles driven from the head of a comet when it is close to the sun 6. Informal a person employed to follow and spy upon another 7. turn tail to run away 8. with one's tail between one's legs completely defeated and demoralized Adjective at the back: tail feathers Verb Informal to follow (someone) stealthily tailless adj
tail 2 Noun Law the limitation of an estate or interest to a person and his or her descendants [Old French taille a division]
tail (tl)1. The rear, elongated part of many animals, extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body. Tails are used variously for balance, combat, communication, mating displays, fat storage, propulsion and course correction in water, and course correction in air. 2. A long, stream of gas or dust forced from the head of a comet when it is close to the Sun. Tails can be up to 150 million km (93 million miles) long, and they always point away from the Sun because of the force of the solar wind.  Plasma tails, or ion tails, appear bluish and straight and narrow, and are formed when solar wind forces ionized gas to stream off the coma. Dust tails are wide and curved, and are formed when solar heat forces trails of dust off the coma; solid particles reflecting the Sun's light create their bright yellow color. |
Tail the inferior and of ten least influential members of a group, political party, etc., 1604; those who make up the end of a procession. Examples: tail of the army, 1604; of poor followers, flappers, and flatterers, 1838; of maids, 1633; of people, 1604; of ignorant persons, 1578; of precedence, 1895; of an honest profession, 1604.
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms | Noun | 1. |  tail - the posterior part of the body of a vertebrate especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the bodycraniate, vertebrate - animals having a bony or cartilaginous skeleton with a segmented spinal column and a large brain enclosed in a skull or cranium rattle - loosely connected horny sections at the end of a rattlesnake's tail brush - a bushy tail or part of a bushy tail (especially of the fox) uropygium - posterior part of a bird's body from which the tail feathers grow oxtail - the skinned tail of cattle; used especially for soups fluke - either of the two lobes of the tail of a cetacean scut - a short erect tail flag - a conspicuously marked or shaped tail dock - the solid bony part of the tail of an animal as distinguished from the hair appendage, outgrowth, process - a natural prolongation or projection from a part of an organism either animal or plant; "a bony process" | | 2. | tail - the time of the last part of something; "the fag end of this crisis-ridden century"; "the tail of the storm"end, ending - the point in time at which something ends; "the end of the year"; "the ending of warranty period" | | 3. | tail - any projection that resembles the tail of an animalprojection - any solid convex shape that juts out from something | | 4. |  tail - the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on; "he deserves a good kick in the butt"; "are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?"arse, ass, behind, buns, buttocks, hind end, hindquarters, keister, nates, posterior, prat, derriere, fanny, rear end, tooshie, tush, seat, fundament, backside, bottom, rump, stern, tail end, rear, bum, can, butt body part - any part of an organism such as an organ or extremity torso, trunk, body - the body excluding the head and neck and limbs; "they moved their arms and legs and bodies" | | 5. | tail - a spy employed to follow someone and report their movementsfollower - someone who travels behind or pursues another spy - a secret watcher; someone who secretly watches other people; "my spies tell me that you had a good time last night" | | 6. | tail - (usually plural) the reverse side of a coin that does not bear the representation of a person's headverso, reverse - the side of a coin or medal that does not bear the principal design coin - a flat metal piece (usually a disc) used as money head - (usually plural) the obverse side of a coin that usually bears the representation of a person's head; "call heads or tails!" | | 7. | tail - the rear part of an aircraftfuselage - the central body of an airplane that is designed to accommodate the crew and passengers (or cargo) horizontal tail - the horizontal stabilizer and elevator in the tail assembly of an aircraft back, rear - the side that goes last or is not normally seen; "he wrote the date on the back of the photograph" stabilizer - airfoil consisting of a device for stabilizing an aircraft vertical tail - the vertical airfoil in the tail assembly of an aircraft | | 8. |  tail - the rear part of a shipescutcheon - (nautical) a plate on a ship's stern on which the name is inscribed back, rear - the side that goes last or is not normally seen; "he wrote the date on the back of the photograph" ship - a vessel that carries passengers or freight skeg - a brace that extends from the rear of the keel to support the rudderpost | | Verb | 1. |  tail - go after with the intent to catch; "The policeman chased the mugger down the alley"; "the dog chased the rabbit"tree - chase an animal up a tree; "the hunters treed the bear with dogs and killed it"; "her dog likes to tree squirrels" pursue, follow - follow in or as if in pursuit; "The police car pursued the suspected attacker"; "Her bad deed followed her and haunted her dreams all her life" quest - search the trail of (game); "The dog went off and quested" hound, hunt, trace - pursue or chase relentlessly; "The hunters traced the deer into the woods"; "the detectives hounded the suspect until they found him" run down - pursue until captured; "They ran down the fugitive" | | 2. | tail - remove or shorten the tail of an animalcut - separate with or as if with an instrument; "Cut the rope" | | 3. | tail - remove the stalk of fruits or berriespinch, top - cut the top off; "top trees and bushes" |
tail verb 5. ( Informal) follow, track, shadow, trail, stalk, keep an eye on, dog the footsteps of turn tail run away, flee, run off, escape, take off ( informal) retreat, make off, hook it ( slang) run for it ( informal) scarper Brit. ( slang) cut and run, show a clean pair of heels, skedaddle ( informal) take to your heels >> adjective caudal  Translations tail [teɪl] n → cola; ( ZOOL) → rabo; [ of shirt, coat] → faldón mtail away, tail off vi ( in size, quality etc) → ir disminuyendo
 tail [teɪl] n → queue f [ of shirt]; pan mtails npl (= suit) → habit m; to turn tail → se sauver à toutes jambes see also headtail away
 tail [teɪl] n [ of animal] → Schwanz m [ of plane] → Heck nt [ of shirt, coat] → Schoß mtails npl (= formal suit) → Frack m;
 tail [teɪl] n → coda; [ of shirt] → falda
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