tail

n.

1. The posterior part of an animal, especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body.
2. The bottom, rear, or hindmost part: the tail of a shirt.
3. The rear end of a wagon or other vehicle.
4. 1. The rear portion of the fuselage of an aircraft.
   2. An assembly of stabilizing planes and control surfaces in this rear portion.
5. The vaned rear portion of a bomb or missile.
6. An appendage to the rear or bottom of a thing: the tail of a kite.
7. The long luminous stream of gas and dust forced from the head of a comet when it is close to the sun.
8. A braid of hair; a pigtail.
9. Something that follows or takes the last place: the tail of a journey.
10. A train of followers; a retinue.
11. The end of a line of persons or things.
12. The short closing line of certain stanzas of verse.
13. The refuse or dross remaining from processes such as distilling or milling.
14. Printing. The bottom of a page; the bottom margin.
15. (used with a sing. verb) The side of a coin not having the principal design and the date. Often used in the plural with a singular verb.
16. Informal. The trail of a person or an animal in flight.
17. Informal. A person assigned or employed to follow and report on someone else's movements and actions: The police put a tail on the suspected drug dealer.
18. tails
    1. A formal evening costume typically worn by men.
    2. A tailcoat.
19. 1. Slang. The buttocks.
    2. Vulgar Slang. A sexual partner, especially a woman.

adj.

1. Of or relating to a tail or tails: tail feathers.
2. Situated in the tail, as of an airplane: a tail gunner.

v., tailed, tail·ing, tails.

v.tr.

1. To provide with a tail: tail a kite.
2. To deprive of a tail; dock.
3. To serve as the tail of: The Santa Claus float tailed the parade.
4. To connect (often dissimilar or incongruous objects) by or as if by the tail or end: tail two ideas together.
5. Architecture. To set one end of (a beam, board, or brick) into a wall.
6. Informal. To follow and keep under surveillance.

v.intr.

1. To become lengthened or spaced when moving in a line: The patrol tailed out in pairs.
2. Architecture. To be inserted at one end into a wall, as a floor timber or beam.
3. Informal. To follow: tailed after the leader.
4. Nautical.
   1. To go aground with the stern foremost.
   2. To lie or swing with the stern in a named direction, as when riding at anchor or on a mooring.
5. Sports. To veer from a straight course in the direction of the dominant hand of the player propelling the ball: a pitch that tails away from the batter.

phrasal verbs:

tail down

1. To ease a heavy load down a steep slope.

tail off or away

1. To diminish gradually; dwindle or subside: The fireworks tailed off into darkness.

[Middle English, from Old English tægel.]

tailless tail'less adj.

tail² (tāl) Law.
n.
Limitation of the inheritance of an estate to a particular party.

adj. Law
Being in tail: a tail estate.

[Middle English taille, from Old French, division, from taillier, to cut. See tailor.]

For more information on tail, visit Britannica.com.

1. In U.S. Treasury auctions, the price spread between the average competitive bid on bills, notes, and bonds sold in Treasury auctions and the Stopout Price.

2. Money market term for a financial instrument partially financed by a Repurchase Agreement. For example, a dealer buys a 90-day Treasury bill and sells a 30-day repurchase agreement. The maturity difference between the two is the tail.

3. Finance. The figures appearing after the decimal point in a bond quotation. For example, in a bid of $95.3712, the tail is .3712. Bond prices also are quoted in dollars plus 32/100 of a dollar.

4. Estates. The property inherited by direct descendents, for example, children or grandchildren of a decedent. Called an estate in tail.

also tail away

noun

1. The hindmost part of something: end, rear¹, tag end, tail end. See precede/follow.
2. Something that follows or is drawn along behind: trail, train, wake². See precede/follow.
3. An agent assigned to observe and report on another: shadow, watcher. See investigate.

verb

To keep (another) under surveillance by moving along behind: dog, follow, shadow, track, trail. Informal bird-dog. See precede/follow.

phrasal verb - tail away (or off)

To grow or cause to grow gradually less: abate, decrease, diminish, drain, dwindle, ebb, lessen, let up, peter (out), rebate, reduce, taper (off). See increase/decrease.

Idioms beginning with tail:
tailspin
tailor-made for
tail between one's legs, with one's
tail off

See also bright-eyed and bushy-tailed; can't make head or tail of; get off one's tail; heads or tails; in two shakes (of a lamb's tail); on someone's coattails; tiger by the tail; turn tail; work one's fingers to the bone (tail off).

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n

Definition: end piece, part
Antonyms: front, head

v

Definition: follow
Antonyms: front, head, run away

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n. the rear part of an airplane, with the tailplane and rudder.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

1. The tapering end of those parts of a frequency distribution away from the arithmetic mean. Statistically, a one-tailed test investigates only one end of a distribution; a two-tailed test investigates both ends.

2. See crag and tail.

1. Exposed lower portion of a slate shingle.
2. Tailing.
3. See rafter tail.
4. See lookout.

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This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

Limited, abridged, reduced, or cur- tailed.

An estate in tail is a legally recognizable interest of inheritance that goes to the heirs of the donee's body instead of descending to the donee's heirs generally. The heirs of the donee's body are his or her lawful issue (children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on, in a direct line for as long as the descendants endure in a regular order and course of descent). Upon the death of the first owner to die without issue, the estate tail ends.

See: entail.

A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce

n.

The part of an animal's spine that has transcended its natural limitations to set up an independent existence in a world of its own. Excepting in its foetal state, Man is without a tail, a privation of which he attests an hereditary and uneasy consciousness by the coat-skirt of the male and the train of the female, and by a marked tendency to ornament that part of his attire where the tail should be, and indubitably once was. This tendency is most observable in the female of the species, in whom the ancestral sense is strong and persistent. The tailed men described by Lord Monboddo are now generally regarded as a product of an imagination unusually susceptible to influences generated in the golden age of our pithecan past.

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IN BRIEF: A slender, flexible part of an animal's body that sticks out beyond the backbone.

Money will buy you a pretty good dog, but it won't buy the wag of his tail. — Josh Billings (1856-1950), Irish playwright and critic.

A tail can refer to excitement, as in a dog that wags its tale, or the opposite, as when a tail is dragged between one's legs. There are numerous idioms involving this word, and dreams in which a tail is featured can be alluding to the meaning of any one of them: "turn tail," "on someone else's coattails," a "tail wagging the dog," or the "tail end" of something.

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Dansk (Danish)
1.
n. - hale, svans, ende, bagende, skøde (beklædning)
v. tr. - skygge, følge efter, observere
v. intr. - drive
adj. - følge-, bag-

idioms:

• on a person's tail    skygge en person
• tail away    dø hen, gradvis mindske
• tail end    sidste del, den svagere del, slutdelen
• tail of the eye    se ud af øjenkrogen
• tail wind    medvind
• the tail is wagging the dog    det er halen der logrer hunden
• turn tail    tage flugten, flygte
• with one's tail between one's legs    med halen mellem benene

2.
n. - begrænsning af ejerskab
adj. - begrænset til en bestemt arvelinie

Nederlands (Dutch)
staart, (uit)einde, vlecht, slip(jas), schaduwen, beperking van eigendom wat betreft erfrecht

Français (French)
1.
n. - (Zool) queue, queue (d'un avion, d'un véhicule), filature, postérieur (fam), natte (de cheveux), fin (d'un voyage, d'un orage), file/queue, (Imprim) bas de page, pile (d'une pièce), revers, piste (d'une personne, d'un animal), fileur (fam), habit queue-de-pie, pan (d'une chemise), basque
v. tr. - filer, suivre, prendre en filature
v. intr. - changer/pencher dans une certaine direction (objet en vol)
adj. - venant de l'arrière, à l'arrière

idioms:

• on someone's tail    suivre qn de près, talonner qn
• tail away    s'éteindre
• tail back    (GB) remonter (la circulation), s'étirer jusqu'à
• tail down    descendre (un chargement lourd) le long d'une pente raide
• tail end    dernier morceau, fin (film), derrière (fam)
• tail in    talonner
• tail of one's eye    (regarder) de côté
• tail off    diminuer, baisser, s'éteindre
• tail wind    vent arrière
• the tail is wagging the dog    c'est le monde à l'envers!, (fig) les subordonnés l'emportent sur les chefs
• turn tail    tourner les talons
• with one's tail between one's legs    (partir) la queue basse

2.
n. - (Jur) limitation du droit de propriété
adj. - (Hist, Jur) limité/restreint (à un lignée d'héritiers spécifique)

Deutsch (German)
1.
n. - Schwanz, Schweif, Ende, Schlange, Heck, Kometenschweif, minderwertiger Teil, Hemdzipfel, Notenhals, (ugs.) Schatten, Unterlänge, (ugs.) Hintern, ruhigeres Wasser
v. - verfolgen, beschatten, entstielen, stutzen, mit einem Schwanz versehen, verbinden
adj. - von rückwärts

idioms:

• on someone's tail    jdm. folgen
• tail away    zurückgehen, verstummen
• tail back    in einen Stau kommen
• tail down    eine Holzrutsche hinunterrollen
• tail end    die Rückseite von etwas
• tail in    in die Wand einlassen
• tail of one's eye    jd. aus dem Augenwinkel beobachten
• tail off    zurückgehen, verstummen
• tail wind    Rückenwind
• the tail is wagging the dog    der Unbedeutendste führt das Regiment, etwas Unwichtiges erhält zu große Bedeutung
• turn tail    die Flucht ergreifen
• with one's tail between one's legs    mit eingezogenem Schwanz

2.
n. - (ugs.) Schatten, Beschränkung (der Erbfolge)
adj. - beschränkt

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - ουρά, παρακολουθών, "σκιά", πίσω μέρος, (καθομ.) γκόμενα, θηλυκό, οπίσθια, πισινός
v. - παρακολουθώ στενά, ακολουθώ, είμαι ουραγός
adj. - της ουράς, οπίσθιος

idioms:

• not make head or tail of    (καθομ.) δεν βγάζω/βρίσκω άκρη από
• on a person's tail    που παρακολουθεί κάποιον από κοντά
• tail away    σβήνω
• tail end    ουρά, τελευταίο τμήμα, τέλος
• tail of the eye    άκρη του ματιού
• tail wind    (ναυτ., μτφ.) ούριος άνεμος
• the tail is wagging the dog    σηκώθηκαν τα πόδια και βαράνε το κεφάλι
• turn tail    παίρνω δρόμο, το βάζω στα πόδια
• with one's tail between one's legs    με την ουρά στα σκέλια

Italiano (Italian)
coda, pedinare, codino

idioms:

• on a person's tail    sulle orme di
• tail off/away    diminuire, svanire
• tail wind    vento di poppa
• the tail is wagging the dog    la coda scodinzola il cane
• turn tail    scappare
• with one's tail between one's legs    con la coda fra le gambe

Português (Portuguese)
n. - cauda (f), final (m), trança (f), rabo (m) de cabelo
v. - colocar uma cauda, seguir imediatamente, amarrar por uma extremidade
adj. - no fim, nas costas, atrás

idioms:

• on a person's tail    perseguir alguém muito próximo, espionar, vigiar
• tail end    final, extremidade
• tail of the eye    canto do olho
• tail off/away    colocar no fim de uma lista, considerar imprestável, ficar para trás
• tail wind    vento de popa, vento de cauda
• the tail is wagging the dog    o detalhe está se tornando mais importante do que a parte principal
• turn tail    correr, fugir, escapar, virar as costas
• with one's tail between one's legs    com o rabo entre as pernas, humilhado, vencido

Русский (Russian)
(сущ.) Хвост, что-то, напомин. хвост (хвост кометы), нижний кончик (рубахи), конечная фаза (чего-л.), уголок (глаза), подол юбки, свита, сыщик, неотступно следующий (за кем-л.), очередь

idioms:

• on a person's tail    неотступно следовать (за кем-л.)
• tail end    конец, хвост, заключ. часть речи, (ав.) хвостовая часть самолета, (мор.) задний конец, концевой вал
• tail of the eye    уголок глаза
• tail off/away    убывать, исчезать, замирать
• tail wind    Попутный ветер
• the tail is wagging the dog    (ирон.) хвост виляет собакой
• turn tail    повернуться и броситься наутек
• with one's tail between one's legs    поджать хвост, струсить

Español (Spanish)
1.
n. - cola, rabo, la parte postrera de un animal que se prolonga del resto del cuerpo
v. tr. - seguir de cerca
v. intr. - (de un objeto en vuelo) cambiar o girar en una dirección en particular
adj. - de cola, trasero, de faldones

idioms:

• on someone's tail    seguir a uno
• tail away    ir disminuyendo, ir apagándose, alargarse
• tail back    (fútbol americano) jugador trasero
• tail down    dispersarse, desvanecerse
• tail end    conclusión final
• tail in    insertar el extremo de una piedra o ladrillo en una pared
• tail of one's eye    el rabillo del ojo
• tail off    ir disminuyendo, ir apagándose, alargarse
• tail wind    viento de cola o trasero
• the tail is wagging the dog    cuando una pequeña parte de algo controla el todo
• turn tail    poner pies en polvorosa
• with one's tail between one's legs    con el rabo entre las piernas

2.
n. - restricción de propiedad
adj. - propiedad limitada a ciertos herederos

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - svans, stjärt, slut, sista del, kö, bakre del, ända, skört, släp, baksida av mynt, fläta, deckare, spårhund, begränsning av arvsrätt (jur.)
v. - förse med svans, kupera, snoppa, hänga efter, skugga, haka på
adj. - änd-, svans-, slut- etc.

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
1. 尾巴, 尾状物, 尾部, 发辫, 尾部的, 从后面来的, 后部的, 为...装尾, 尾随, 附于其后, 变少, 缩小, 跟踪

idioms:

• on a person's tail    盯梢某人
• tail away    跑开, 变少, 缩小, 有头无尾的结束, 不了了之
• tail end    终了, 末尾, 末端, 屁股
• tail of the eye    眼梢, 眼角
• tail wind    顺风
• the tail is wagging the dog    指处于从属地位的势力本末倒置地执掌指挥或控制权
• turn tail    逃跑
• with one's tail between one's legs    惊惶地

2. 限嗣继承, 限制继承

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
1.
n. - 限嗣繼承, 限制繼承

2.
n. - 尾巴, 尾狀物, 尾部, 髮辮
adj. - 尾部的, 從後面來的, 後部的
v. tr. - 為...裝尾, 尾隨, 附於其後
v. intr. - 尾隨, 變少, 縮小, 跟蹤

idioms:

• on a person's tail    盯梢某人
• tail away    跑開, 變少, 縮小, 有頭無尾的結束, 不了了之
• tail end    終了, 末尾, 末端, 屁股
• tail of the eye    眼梢, 眼角
• tail wind    順風
• the tail is wagging the dog    指處於從屬地位的勢力本末倒置地執掌指揮或控制權
• turn tail    逃跑
• with one's tail between one's legs    驚惶地

한국어 (Korean)
1.
n. - 꼬리, 자락, 미부
v. tr. - ~에 꼬리를 달다, ~에 붙이다
v. intr. - 척 늘어지다, 꼬리처럼 늘어지다
adj. - 뒤에서 오는

idioms:

• tail away    뒤로 처지다
• the tail is wagging the dog    주객 전도, 입장이 바뀐
• turn tail    꽁무니를 빼다, 달아나다
• with one's tail between one's legs    기가 죽어, 위축되어

2.
n. - (재산상의) 계사 한정
adj. - (재산상의) 계사 한정의

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 尾, しっぽ, 尾に似た物, 尾部, 燕尾服, 後部, 裏面, 末尾, 従者
v. - 尾行する, 添付する

idioms:

• on a person's tail    すぐうしろ
• tail end    末端, 終わり
• tail of the eye    目尻
• tail off/away    しだいに減ってゆく
• tail wind    追い風
• the tail is wagging the dog    本末転倒
• the tail wags the dog    本末転倒
• with one's tail between one's legs    しっぽを巻いて

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) ذيل (فعل) يعلق بطرف شيء آخر (صفه) خلفي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮נערה, חתיכה, מרגל, בלש, קצה, שובל, זנב, בעילה, ישבן, ישבן בולט, מעיל ערב, דממה לאחר הסערה, אברי-המין של האישה‬
v. tr. - ‮קשר הקצוות, עקב בחשאי אחרי, זינב, קיצץ, הלך בעקבות אחר או היצל עליו, צירף‬
v. intr. - ‮השתרך, הזדנב, נישא או התעקם בכיוון מיוחד‬
adj. - ‮אחורי, בא מאחור‬
n. - ‮הגבלת בעלות‬
adj. - ‮מוגבל לשושלת היורשים בלבד‬

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charming tails	charming tails lucky
charming tails hoppy