Link Centre Dictionary

tail

UK/ˈteːl/ US/ˈteɪ̯l/ common slang us
noun (8) verb (3)

noun

1.

the posterior part of the body of a vertebrate especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body

2.

the time of the last part of something

  • “the fag end of this crisis-ridden century”
  • “the tail of the storm”
Synonyms
3.

any projection that resembles the tail of an animal

Synonyms
4.

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?”
Synonyms
5.

a spy employed to follow someone and report their movements

Synonyms
6.

(usually plural) the reverse side of a coin that does not bear the representation of a person''s head

Antonyms
7.
8.

verb

1.

go after with the intent to catch

  • “The policeman chased the mugger down the alley”
  • “the dog chased the rabbit”
Synonyms
2.

remove or shorten the tail of an animal

Synonyms
3.

remove the stalk of fruits or berries

Origin

From Middle English tail, taile, taille, tayil, tayl, tayle, tayll, teil, tæȝel, from Old English tæġel, tæġl (“tail”), from Proto-West Germanic *tagl, from Proto-Germanic *taglą (“hair, fiber; hair of a tail”), from Proto-Indo-European *doḱ- (“hair of the tail”), from Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- (“to tear, fray, shred”).

Phrases

  • at the tail
  • bang tail
  • beaver tail
  • blue rat's tail
  • box tail
  • broken tail
  • brown-tail moth
  • burro's tail

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

See also

Parts

Part of

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.