Definition of
Tail
- (noun, animal) the posterior part of the body of a vertebrate especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body
- (noun, artifact) the rear part of a ship
- (noun, artifact) the rear part of an aircraft
- (noun, artifact) (usually plural) the reverse side of a coin that does not bear the representation of a person's head
- (noun, body) the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on
are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing? - (noun, person) a spy employed to follow someone and report their movements
- (noun, shape) any projection that resembles the tail of an animal
- (noun, time) the time of the last part of something
the tail of the storm - (verb, contact) remove the stalk of fruits or berries
- (verb, contact) remove or shorten the tail of an animal
- (verb, motion) go after with the intent to catch
the dog chased the rabbit
via WordNet, Princeton University
Synonyms of Tail
after part, arse, ass, backside, behind, bob, bottom, bum, buns, butt, buttocks, can, chase, chase after, derriere, dock, dog, empennage, fag end, fanny, fundament, give chase, go after, hind end, hindquarters, keister, nates, poop, posterior, prat, quarter, rear, rear end, rump, seat, shadow, shadower, stern, tag, tail assembly, tail end, tooshie, track, trail, tush
Antonyms of Tail
Alternate forms of Tail
Hyponyms: bob, bobtail, brush, caudal appendage, dock, flag, fluke, hound, hunt, oxtail, quest, rattle, run down, scut, trace, tree, uropygium
Hypernyms: appendage, back, body part, cut, end, ending, follow, follower, outgrowth, pinch, process, projection, pursue, rear, reverse, spy, top, verso
Origin of the word Tail
- "hindmost part of an animal," O.E. t?gl, t?gel, from P.Gmc. *tagla- (cf. O.H.G. zagal, Ger. Zagel "tail," dialectal Ger. Zagel "penis," O.N. tagl "horse's tail"), from PIE *doklos, from base *dek- "something long and thin" (referring to such things as fringe, lock of hair, horsetail; cf. O.Ir. dual "lock of hair," S… more
- "limitation of ownership," a legal term, 1321 in Anglo-Fr.; 1284 in Anglo-L., in most cases an aphetic form of entail. more
- "follow secretly," U.S. colloquial, 1907, is from earlier sense of "follow or drive cattle," from tail (n.1). Tail off "diminish" is attested from 1854. more
via Online Etymology Dictionary, ©2001 Douglas Harper
Words that sound like Tail
taal, tael, tai lue, tala, tale, tall, tall oil, tall yellow-eye, tallow, tallow oil, tally, tattily, tattle, tautly, tea towel, teal, teetotal, tell, telly, thalia, the hill, the whole way, thill, thole, thule, tidal, tiddly, tidily, tile, tilia, till, title, tittle, tl, toad lily, toddle, toil, tole, toll, tolu, tool
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