Definition for tail - Oxford Dictionaries Online (World English)

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	tail1 (tail) Pronunciation: /teɪl/ noun 1the 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. 2a 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 such a coat: 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. 3the 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 batsmen: 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, chiefly North American a person’s buttocks: the coach kicked Ryan in his tail vulgar slang a woman’s genitals. [mass noun] informal women collectively regarded in sexual terms: my wife thinks going out with you guys will keep me from chasing tail 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 informal 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 [no object, with adverbial of direction] North American (of an object in flight) drift or curve in a particular direction: the next pitch tailed in on me at the last second 3remove the stalks or ends of (fruit or vegetables) in preparation for cooking. 4pull on the end of (a rope) after it has been wrapped round the drum of a winch a few times, in order to prevent slipping when the winch rotates. 5 archaic join (one thing) to another. Phrases chase one's (own) tail informal rush around ineffectually: from continually chasing my tail and being late for everything, punctuality became second nature on someone's tail following someone closely: a police car stayed on his tail for half a mile the tail of one's eye dated 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 financing system is becoming the tail that wags the dog with one's tail between one's legs informal in a state of dejection or humiliation: we took Lily in when she came back from London with her tail between her legs with one's tail up informal in a confident or cheerful mood: the West Indies team with their tails up can be awesome Phrasal Verbs tail back British (of traffic) become congested and form a tailback: traffic tailed back fourteen miles after a chemical spillage tail something in (or into) insert the end of a beam, stone, or brick into (a wall). tail off (or away) gradually diminish in amount, strength, or intensity: the economic boom was beginning to tail off Derivatives tailed adjective [in combination]: a white-tailed deer tailless adjective 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' Do not confuse tail with tale. Tail means 'the rear or end part of an animal or thing' ( the dog wagged its tail), whereas tale means 'a story' ( a fairy tale).		Search results in the dictionary tail² tail in tail² Tail in tail² coat-tail fee tail long tail More results » More words in this category acantho- arenaceous Aves clavate Ctenophora endemic equine fawn 1 feline frass gregarious kelt lamella nictation protective colouring siluroid spin sucker uniped urochordate Nearby Words Tai tai Tai Yue Shan Tai'an Taichung Taig taiga taiko taikonaut tail ¹ tail ² tail bone tail boom tail comb tail covert tail end tail feather tail fin tail gas