tail

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“
A fish lashes himself forward with his tail, and steers with his fins; a swallow lashes himself forward with his fins, and steers with his tail; partly, not necessarily, because in the most dashing of the swallows, the swift, the fork of the tail is the least developed.

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Definitions (134)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (40)

  1. noun The posterior part of an animal, especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body.
  2. noun The bottom, rear, or hindmost part: the tail of a shirt.
  3. noun The rear end of a wagon or other vehicle.
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Examples (50)

  • Where he went I cannot tell you, nor do I know what happened to her, but I think they will meet next year, and by that time his tail will be as beautiful as ever Illustration: THE NEW PORTION WAS STUBBY AND COLOURLESS THE PASSING OF THE BLACK RAT NOTE.--The old English black rat, for some three hundred years predominant in this country, is now well-nigh extinct. —  "Wee Tim'rous Beasties" Studies of Animal life and Character
  • When my tail was absorbed into my body, I sought a land-retreat. —  "Wee Tim'rous Beasties" Studies of Animal life and Character
  • This involves the moister skin, the shorter alimentary canal, and the abbreviated neck (Rabbit, Section 2) of the frog; the tail is absent-- in a fish it would do the work the frog accomplishes with his hind legs-- and the apertures which are posterior in the rabbit, run together into one dorsal opening, the cloaca. —  Text Book of Biology, Part 1: Vertebrata
  • A fish lashes himself forward with his tail, and steers with his fins; a swallow lashes himself forward with his fins, and steers with his tail; partly, not necessarily, because in the most dashing of the swallows, the swift, the fork of the tail is the least developed. —  Love's Meinie Three Lectures on Greek and English Birds
  • In all other cases the tail is a part of the fur, and a valuable one, too, as I have found out to my cost. —  Canoe Mates in Canada Three Boys Afloat on the Saskatchewan
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

leg ·  tooth ·  wing ·  hair ·  nose ·  skin ·  claw ·  jaw ·  feather ·  head ·  belly ·  tongue

Used in the same contextWord Family

tail:   tails ·  tailing
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (6)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English, from Old English tægel.
  2. Middle English taille, from Old French, division, from taillier, to cut; see tailor.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (4)

  1. from Middle English tail, tayl, teil, from Anglo-Saxon tægel, tægl = Old High German zagal, zagil, Middle High German zagel, zail, zeil, tail, also sting, German dial. zagel, contr. zal, tail, = Icelandic tagl = Swedish tagel, hair of the tail, = Gothic (Moesogothic) tagl, hair; origin uncertain.
  2. from tail, n.
  3. Also, in Scots, with the orig. final syllable preserved, tailye, tailzie, etc.; from Middle English taile, tayle, taille, from Old French taille, a cut, slit, jag, shred, size, stature, also a tax, tribute, etc., French taille, a cut, cutting, hewing, etc. (in most of the senses of Old French, and others), = Provencal talha = Spanish taja, talla, tala = Portuguese tala, talha = Italian taglia, a cut, cutting, etc., from Latin talea, a slender stick, rod, staff, bar, in agriculture a cutting, set, layer for planting, scion, twig. Hence also ult. tally (a doublet of tail), tail, v., tailor, detail, entail, retail, intaglio, etc. The Roman noun, though in form from the L. noun, is in most senses from the verb derived from the L. noun.
  4. from Middle English tailen, taylen, taillen, tailʒen, from Old French tailler, French tattler = Italian tagliare, from Middle Latin taleare, also (after Roman) talare, cut off, cut (timber), from Latin talea, a cutting: see tail, n.
 

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/teɪl/
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