Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Having too much weight at the rear, either from overloading or from poor design and construction.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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The arrangement is less than ideal dynamically because it tends to make a car tail-heavy, more likely to over-rotate in corners and spin.
The Porsche 911's Last Hurrah...For Now Dan Neil 2011
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To get the plane down again, he ordered the other three men aboard to run back and forth between the cockpit and the tail to make the plane nose-heavy and then tail-heavy as he landed.
Daring Young Men RICHARD REEVES 2010
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She still responded, when any other aircraft so tail-heavy would have stalled and spun in.
The HurricaneStory Gallico, Paul 1959
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She seems to have a tendency to become tail-heavy, but this may be due to bad trimming.
The Diary of a U-boat Commander With an Introduction and Explanatory Notes by Etienne Stephen King-Hall 1929
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If a mistake is made and the measurement taken along the wrong line, it may result in a difference of perhaps 1/4 will, in flight, be nose-heavy or tail-heavy.
The Aeroplane Speaks 1919
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If it has too little angle, then it will not lift enough, and the aeroplane will be "tail-heavy."
The Aeroplane Speaks 1919
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If tail-heavy, it should be given a larger angle; but care should be taken not to give it too great an angle, because the longitudinal stability entirely depends upon the tail-plane being set at a much smaller angle of incidence than is the main surface, and if that difference is decreased too much, the aeroplane will become uncontrollable longitudinally.
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If tail-heavy, it should be given a larger angle; but care should be taken not to give it too great an angle, because the longitudinal stability entirely depends upon the tail-plane being set at
The Aeroplane Speaks 1919
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If it has too little angle, then it will not lift enough, and the aeroplane will be "tail-heavy."
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If a mistake is made and the measurement taken along the wrong line, it may result in a difference of perhaps 1/4 inch or more to the stagger, with the certain result that the aeroplane will, in flight, be nose-heavy or tail-heavy.
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