tail
noun
[ teɪl ]
• 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"
Similar:
hindmost part,
back end,
appendage,
brush,
scut,
dock,
tailpiece,
tail feathers,
hind part,
hindquarters,
cauda,
uropygium,
• 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 end of a long train or line of people or vehicles.
• "a catering truck at the tail of the convoy"
• 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"
Similar:
detective,
investigator,
private investigator,
shadow,
sleuth,
private eye,
tec,
gumshoe,
bogey,
dick,
private dick,
shamus,
• a person's buttocks.
• "the coach kicked Ryan in his tail"
Similar:
buttocks,
backside,
behind,
bottom,
seat,
rump,
rear,
rear end,
cheeks,
hindquarters,
haunches,
derrière,
Sitzfleisch,
nates,
sit-upon,
stern,
BTM,
tochus,
rusty dusty,
bum,
botty,
prat,
jacksie,
bahookie,
butt,
fanny,
tush,
tushie,
duff,
buns,
booty,
caboose,
heinie,
patootie,
keister,
tuchis,
bazoo,
bippy,
batty,
rass,
fundament,
posterior,
breech,
arse,
clunge,
ass,
• 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"
tail
verb
• follow and observe (someone) closely, especially in secret.
• "a flock of paparazzi had tailed them all over London"
• provide with a tail.
• "her calligraphy was topped by banners of black ink and tailed like the haunches of fabulous beasts"
• (of an object in flight) drift or curve in a particular direction.
• "the next pitch tailed in on me at the last second"
• remove the stalks or ends of (fruit or vegetables) in preparation for cooking.
• pull 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.
• join (one thing) to another.
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’.
tail
noun
• limitation of ownership, especially of an estate or title limited to a person and their direct descendants.
• "the land was held in tail general"
Origin:
Middle English (denoting a tallage): from Old French taille ‘notch, tax’, from taillier ‘to cut’, based on Latin talea ‘twig, cutting’.
