tail

1 of 4

noun (1)

ˈtāl 

often attributive

1

: the rear end or a process or prolongation of the rear end of the body of an animal

2

: something resembling an animal's tail in shape or position: such as

a

: a luminous stream of particles, gases, or ions extending from a comet especially in the antisolar direction

b

: the rear part of an airplane consisting usually of horizontal and vertical stabilizing surfaces with attached control surfaces

3

: the reverse of a coin

—usually used in plural

tails, I win

4

tails plural

a

: tailcoat

b

: full evening dress for men

5

: a location immediately or not far behind

had a posse on his tail

6

: one (such as a detective) who follows or keeps watch on someone

7

a

: buttocks, butt

b

slang, vulgar : sexual intercourse

8

: retinue

9

: the back, last, lower, or inferior part of something

10

: tailing sense 1

—usually used in plural

11

: the blank space at the bottom of a page

tailed

ˈtāld 

adjective

tailless

ˈtāl-ləs 

adjective

taillike

ˈtāl-ˌlīk 

adjective

tail

2 of 4

verb

tailed; tailing; tails

transitive verb

1

: to follow for purposes of surveillance

2

: to connect end to end

3

a

: to remove the tail of (an animal) : dock entry 3

b

: to remove the stem or bottom part of

topping and tailing gooseberries

4

a

: to make or furnish with a tail

b

: to follow or be drawn behind like a tail

intransitive verb

1

: to form or move in a straggling line

2

: to grow progressively smaller, fainter, or more scattered : abate

—usually used with off

productivity is tailing off

—Tom Nicholson

3

: to swing or lie with the stern in a named direction

—used of a ship at anchor

4

: tag entry 2

tailer noun

tail

3 of 4

noun (2)

: entail sense 1a

tail

4 of 4

adjective

: limited as to tenure : entailed

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• cortege
• cortège
• entourage
• following
• posse
• retinue
• suite
• train

Verb

• bird-dog
• chase
• course
• dog
• follow
• hound
• pursue
• run
• shadow
• tag
• trace
• track
• trail

Example Sentences

Verb

The police had been tailing the suspect for several miles.

She is constantly tailed by the press.

The pitch tailed away from the batter.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Many are blurry or show only an ear or tail at the edge of the frame. —Beck Andrew Salgado, Journal Sentinel, 20 Jan. 2023

Come February, the streets of Panjim, Mapusa, Margao, and Vasco will come alive with dancers, acrobats, musicians, and the escorts that tail the carnival’s King Momo. —Condé Nast Traveller, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 Nov. 2022

The aircraft chase the GI’s informal prayer as reliably as the violins tail the piano in Chanda Dancy’s treacly score. —Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 21 Nov. 2022

Villanelle will go toe to tail with a formidable adversary named Lucifer. —Dan Snierson, EW.com, 25 Feb. 2022

The result is the duckiest possible version of a duck: dark, crisp, glossy skin surrounding dark, tender meat, from tip to tail. —Helen Rosner, The New Yorker, 16 Feb. 2022

The virality of the first tabloid photo encouraged the paparazzi to tail him more. —E. Alex Jung, Vulture, 12 Oct. 2021

The family’s relationship with their son Tyler’s health care provider became so antagonistic that NICA twice hired a private investigator to tail them. —Carol Marbin Miller, ProPublica, 8 Apr. 2021

The blowhole is the first body part to rise out of the water, followed by the back and tail as the whale dives below the surface in one graceful motion. —Nora Mishanec, SFChronicle.com, 2 Jan. 2021

Noun

And the striking setting — under the giant tail of Howard Hughes’s Spruce Goose airliner folly — suits the strangeness of the material. —Brett Campbell | , oregonlive, 22 Mar. 2023

The long tail of those decisions can be seen in the Iraqi parliament’s constant struggles for legitimacy and the rise of the extremist Islamic State, which emerged with the organizational know-how of some former members of the Baath Party. —Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 20 Mar. 2023

This happened when a volcano named Dabbahu erupted at the tail of the east African Rift Valley. —Faustine Ngila, Quartz, 13 Mar. 2023

But perhaps the franchise would be eating its own tail at that point. —Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Mar. 2023

This pair of tweezers is ideal for the section between your brows and on the end above the tail of your brow where the skin is less sensitive. —Madison Yauger, Peoplemag, 3 Mar. 2023

Share [Findings] The tail of an unidentified herbivorous dinosaur in Alberta was found to contain a type of histiocytic tumor that primarily affects young children. —Christian Lorentzen, Harpers Magazine, 1 Mar. 2023

One example is the skipper caterpillar, which can shoot solid pellets of its waste, known as frass, over a distance up to 38 times its body length to keep predators off its tail. —Jack Tamisiea, Scientific American, 28 Feb. 2023

One of the employees picked it up by its tail as Dave got a couple of close-up shots with his camera. —Oliver Whang, New York Times, 27 Feb. 2023

See More

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, from Old English tægel; akin to Old High German zagal tail, Middle Irish dúal lock of hair

Noun (2)

Middle English, from Anglo-French, from tailler

Adjective

Middle English taille, from Anglo-French taylé, past participle of tailler to cut, limit — more at tailor

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1523, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 2

Noun (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing tail

• e-tail
• draggle-tail
• fee tail
• lizard's tail
• mare's tail
• put a tail on (someone)
• one-tail
• not make head or/nor tail of
• rat-tail file
• rooster tail
• tail covert
• tail end
• tail fin
• tail off
• the tail wagging the dog
• the tail end
• trundle-tail
• with one's tail between one's legs
• two-tail
• turn tail
• tail hook
• nose to tail
• brown-tail moth
• on someone's tail

See More

• e-tail
• draggle-tail
• fee tail
• lizard's tail
• mare's tail
• put a tail on (someone)
• one-tail
• not make head or/nor tail of
• rat-tail file
• rooster tail
• tail covert
• tail end
• tail fin
• tail off
• the tail wagging the dog
• the tail end
• trundle-tail
• with one's tail between one's legs
• two-tail
• turn tail
• tail hook
• nose to tail
• brown-tail moth
• on someone's tail

See More

Kids Definition

tail

1 of 3 noun

ˈtā(ə)l 

1

: the rear end or a lengthened growth from the rear end of the body of an animal

2

: something resembling an animal's tail

the tail of a kite

the tail of a comet

3

plural : full evening dress for men

4

: the back, last, lower, or rear part of something

the tail of an airplane

5

: the reverse of a coin

6

: one (as a detective) who follows or keeps watch on someone

7

: a location not far behind

a posse on the outlaw's tail

tailed

ˈtā(ə)ld 

adjective

tailless

ˈtā(ə)l-ləs 

adjective

taillike

-ˌlīk 

adjective

tail

2 of 3 adjective

: being at or coming from the rear

tail

3 of 3 verb

1

: to make or furnish with a tail

2

a

: to follow or be drawn behind like a tail

b

: to follow closely to observe : shadow

tailer noun

Medical Definition

tail

noun

ˈtā(ə)l 

often attributive

1

: the rear end or a process or prolongation of the rear end of the body of an animal

2

: one end of a molecule regarded as opposite to the head

especially : the end of a lipid molecule that consists of a nonpolar hydrocarbon chain and is opposite to the polar group

most surface-active agents have a long hydrophobic tail attached to a polar head

—R. E. Kirk & D. F. Othmer

3

: any of various parts of bodily structures that are terminal: as

a

: the distal tendon of a muscle

b

: the slender left end of the human pancreas

c

: the common convoluted tube that forms the lower part of the epididymis

4

: the motile part of a sperm that extends from the middle piece to the end and comprises the flagellum

5

: a thin protein tube which forms part of the coat of some bacteriophages and through which DNA is injected into a cell

tailed

ˈtā(ə)ld 

adjective

tailless

ˈtā(ə)l-les 

adjective

Legal Definition

tail

1 of 2 noun

1

: the condition of being limited or restricted by entailing

a tenant in tail

2

: entail sense 2

tail

2 of 2 adjective

: limited as to tenure see also fee tail at fee sense 1

Etymology

Noun

Anglo-French, literally, cutting, from Old French, from taillier to cut, prune