tail

tail¹ W3S2 [teıl] n

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1¦(animal)¦

2¦(aircraft)¦

3¦(shirt)¦

4¦(back part)¦

5 tails

6 the tail end of something

7 be on somebody's tail

8¦(follow)¦

9 turn tail

10 with your tail between your legs

11 it's (a case of) the tail wagging the dog

12 chase tail

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[: Old English; Origin: tAgel]

1.) ¦(ANIMAL)¦

the part that sticks out at the back of an animal's body, and that it can move

▪ The dog wagged its tail .

white-tailed/long-tailed etc

▪ a white-tailed eagle

↑cockpit, ↑wing, ↑tail

2.) ¦(AIRCRAFT)¦

the back part of an aircraft

3.) ¦(SHIRT)¦

the bottom part of your shirt at the back, that you put inside your trousers

4.) ¦(BACK PART)¦ [usually singular]

the back or last part of something, especially something that is moving away from you

▪ We saw the tail of the procession disappearing round the corner.

5.) tails

a) [plural]

a man's jacket which is short at the front and divides into two long pieces at the back, worn to very formal events

= ↑tailcoat

b) [U] spoken

said when you are ↑tossing a coin (=throwing it up in the air to decide which of two things you will do or choose)

≠ ↑heads

6.) the tail end of sth

the last part of an event, situation, or period of time

7.) be on sb's tail informal

to be following someone closely

8.) ¦(FOLLOW)¦ informal

someone who is employed to watch and follow someone, especially a criminal

put a tail on sb

(=order someone to follow another person)

9.) turn tail informal

to run away because you are too frightened to fight or attack

10.) with your tail between your legs

embarrassed or unhappy because you have failed or been defeated

11.) it's (a case of) the tail wagging the dog informal

used to say that an unimportant thing is wrongly controlling a situation

12.) chase tail

AmE informal to try to get a woman to have sex with you

tail ²

tail² v [T]

informal to follow someone and watch what they do, where they go etc

▪ The police have been tailing him for several months.

tail away phr v

to tail off

tail back phr v

BrE if traffic tails back, a long line of cars forms, for example because the road is blocked

tail off phr v

1.) to become gradually less, smaller etc, and often stop or disappear completely

▪ Profits tailed off towards the end of the year.

2.) written if someone's voice tails off, it becomes quieter and then stops

▪ 'I didn't mean ...' Her voice tailed off in embarrassment.