English▸ noun
1 the hindmost part of an animal, especially when prolonged beyond the rest of the body, such as the flexible extension of the backbone in a vertebrate, the feathers at the hind end of a bird, or a terminal appendage in an insect:
the dog's tail began to wag frantically.
▪ a slender backward prolongation of each hindwing in some butterflies.
2 a thing resembling an animal's tail in its shape or position, typically extending downwards or outwards at the end of something:
the tail of a capital Q.
▪ the rear part of an aeroplane, with the tailplane and rudder:
the fuselage tapers sharply towards the tail.
▪ the lower or hanging part of a garment, especially the back of a shirt or coat:
he wiped his hands on the tail of his grubby vest
he stormed off, the tails of his jacket flapping behind him.
▪ (tails) informal a tailcoat, or a man's formal evening suit with a tailcoat:
the men looked debonair in white tie and tails.
▪ the luminous trail of particles following a comet.
▪ the lower end of a pool or stream:
shallow riffles and the tails of pools are prime feeding areas.
▪ the exposed end of a slate or tile in a roof:
the slates are dressed with the bevelled tail and edge characteristic of thick, square stone roofing.
▪ Mathematics an extremity of a curve approaching the horizontal axis of a graph, especially that of a frequency distribution.
3 the end of a long train or line of people or vehicles:
a catering truck at the tail of the convoy.
▪ the final, more distant, or weaker part of something:
the tail of a hurricane.
▪ Cricket the end of the batting order, with the weakest batters:
McDermott worked his way through the tail, finishing with ten wickets.
4 informal a person secretly following another to observe their movements:
I can't put a tail on him, I don't know where he's gone.
5 informal mainly North American English a person's buttocks:
the coach kicked Ryan in his tail.
▪ vulgar slang a woman's genitals.
▪ [mass noun] offensive women collectively regarded in sexual terms.
6 (tails) the side of a coin without the image of a head on it (used when tossing a coin to determine a winner):
the chances of heads and tails in the long run are equal.
▸ verb [with object]
1 follow and observe (someone) closely, especially in secret:
a flock of paparazzi had tailed them all over London.
▪ [no object, with adverbial of direction] follow:
they went to their favourite cafe—Owen and Sally tailed along.
2 provide with a tail:
her calligraphy was topped by banners of black ink and tailed like the haunches of fabulous beasts
the eight main chapters are topped and tailed with an introduction and an epilogue.
3 [no object, with adverbial of direction] North American English (of an object in flight) drift or curve in a particular direction:
the next pitch tailed in on me at the last second.
– PHRASES
chase one's tail (also chase one's own tail) informal
rush around ineffectually:
rush around ineffectually:
from continually chasing my tail and being late for everything, punctuality became second nature.
the tail of one's eye dated
the outer corner of one's eye:
the outer corner of one's eye:
he glanced at her through the tail of his eye.
the tail wags the dog
the less important or subsidiary factor, person, or thing dominates a situation; the usual roles are reversed:
the less important or subsidiary factor, person, or thing dominates a situation; the usual roles are reversed:
the financing system is becoming the tail that wags the dog.
– ORIGIN Old English tæg(e)l, from a Germanic base meaning ‘hair, hairy tail’; related to Middle Low German tagel ‘twisted whip, rope's end’. The early sense of the verb (early 16th century) was ‘fasten to the back of something’.