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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Tail \Tail\, adjective (Law) Limited; abridged; reduced; curtailed; as, estate tail.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Tail \Tail\, noun [AS. t[ae]gel, t[ae]gl; akin to G. zagel, Icel. tagl, Sw. tagel, Goth. tagl hair. [root]59.]
1. (Zo["o]l.) The terminal, and usually flexible, posterior appendage of an animal.
Note: The tail of mammals and reptiles contains a series of movable vertebr[ae], and is covered with flesh and hairs or scales like those of other parts of the body. The tail of existing birds consists of several more or less consolidated vertebr[ae] which supports a fanlike group of quills to which the term tail is more particularly applied. The tail of fishes consists of the tapering hind portion of the body ending in a caudal fin. The term tail is sometimes applied to the entire abdomen of a crustacean or insect, and sometimes to the terminal piece or pygidium alone.
2. Any long, flexible terminal appendage; whatever resembles, in shape or position, the tail of an animal, as a catkin.
Doretus writes a great praise of the distilled waters of those tails that hang on willow trees. --Harvey.
3. Hence, the back, last, lower, or inferior part of anything, -- as opposed to the {head}, or the superior part.
The Lord will make thee the head, and not the tail. --Deut. xxviii. 13.
4. A train or company of attendants; a retinue.
''Ah,'' said he, ''if you saw but the chief with his tail on.'' --Sir W. Scott.
5. The side of a coin opposite to that which bears the head, effigy, or date; the reverse; -- rarely used except in the expression ''heads or tails,'' employed when a coin is thrown up for the purpose of deciding some point by its fall.
6. (Anat.) The distal tendon of a muscle.
7. (Bot.) A downy or feathery appendage to certain achenes. It is formed of the permanent elongated style.
8. (Surg.) (a) A portion of an incision, at its beginning or end, which does not go through the whole thickness of the skin, and is more painful than a complete incision; -- called also {tailing}. (b) One of the strips at the end of a bandage formed by splitting the bandage one or more times.
9. (Naut.) A rope spliced to the strap of a block, by which it may be lashed to anything.
10. (Mus.) The part of a note which runs perpendicularly upward or downward from the head; the stem. --Moore (Encyc. of Music).
11. pl. Same as {Tailing}, 4.
12. (Arch.) The bottom or lower portion of a member or part, as a slate or tile.
13. pl. (Mining) See {Tailing}, noun, 5.
14. (Astronomy) the long visible stream of gases, ions, or dust particles extending from the head of a comet in the direction opposite to the sun. [PJC]
15. pl. (Rope Making) In some forms of rope-laying machine, pieces of rope attached to the iron bar passing through the grooven wooden top containing the strands, for wrapping around the rope to be laid. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
16. pl. A tailed coat; a tail coat. [Colloq. or Dial.] [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
17. (A["e]ronautics) In airplanes, an airfoil or group of airfoils used at the rear to confer stability. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
18. the buttocks. [slang or vulgar] [PJC]
19. sexual intercourse, or a woman used for sexual intercourse; as, to get some tail; to find a piece of tail. See also {tailing[3]}. [slang and vulgar] [PJC]
{Tail beam}. (Arch.) Same as {Tailpiece}.
{Tail coverts} (Zo["o]l.), the feathers which cover the bases of the tail quills. They are sometimes much longer than the quills, and form elegant plumes. Those above the quills are called the {upper tail coverts}, and those below, the {under tail coverts}.
{Tail end}, the latter end; the termination; as, the tail end of a contest. [Colloq.]
{Tail joist}. (Arch.) Same as {Tailpiece}.
{Tail of a comet} (Astron.), a luminous train extending from the nucleus or body, often to a great distance, and usually in a direction opposite to the sun.
{Tail of a gale} (Naut.), the latter part of it, when the wind has greatly abated. --Totten.
{Tail of a lock} (on a canal), the lower end, or entrance into the lower pond.
{Tail of the trenches} (Fort.), the post where the besiegers begin to break ground, and cover themselves from the fire of the place, in advancing the lines of approach.
{Tail spindle}, the spindle of the tailstock of a turning lathe; -- called also {dead spindle}.
{To turn tail}, to run away; to flee.
Would she turn tail to the heron, and fly quite out another way; but all was to return in a higher pitch. --Sir P. Sidney.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Tail \Tail\, noun [F. taille a cutting. See {Entail}, {Tally}.] (Law) Limitation; abridgment. --Burrill.
{Estate in tail}, a limited, abridged, or reduced fee; an estate limited to certain heirs, and from which the other heirs are precluded; -- called also {estate tail}. --Blackstone.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Tail \Tail\, verb (used with an object)
1. To follow or hang to, like a tail; to be attached closely to, as that which can not be evaded. [Obs.]
Nevertheless his bond of two thousand pounds, wherewith he was tailed, continued uncanceled, and was called on the next Parliament. --Fuller.
2. To pull or draw by the tail. [R.] --Hudibras.
{To tail in} or {To tail on} (Arch.), to fasten by one of the ends into a wall or some other support; as, to tail in a timber.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Tail \Tail\, verb (used without an object)
1. (Arch.) To hold by the end; -- said of a timber when it rests upon a wall or other support; -- with in or into.
2. (Naut.) To swing with the stern in a certain direction; -- said of a vessel at anchor; as, this vessel tails down stream.
{Tail on}. (Naut.) See {Tally on}, under {Tally}.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
tail
noun
1: the posterior part of the body of a vertebrate especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body
2: the time of the last part of something; "the fag end of this crisis-ridden century"; "the tail of the storm" [syn: {fag end}, {tail end}]
3: any projection that resembles the tail of an animal [syn: {tail end}]
4: the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on; "he deserves a good kick in the butt"; "are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?" [syn: {buttocks}, {nates}, {arse}, {butt}, {backside}, {bum}, {buns}, {can}, {fundament}, {hindquarters}, {hind end}, {keister}, {posterior}, {prat}, {rear}, {rear end}, {rump}, {stern}, {seat}, {tail end}, {tooshie}, {tush}, {bottom}, {behind}, {derriere}, {fanny}, {ass}]
5: a spy employed to follow someone and report their movements [syn: {shadow}, {shadower}]
6: (usually plural) the reverse side of a coin that does not bear the representation of a person's head [ant: {head}]
7: the rear part of an aircraft [syn: {tail assembly}, {empennage}]
8: the rear part of a ship [syn: {stern}, {after part}, {quarter}, {poop}]
verb
1: go after with the intent to catch; "The policeman chased the mugger down the alley"; "the dog chased the rabbit" [syn: {chase}, {chase after}, {trail}, {tag}, {give chase}, {dog}, {go after}, {track}]
2: remove or shorten the tail of an animal [syn: {dock}, {bob}]
3: remove the stalk of fruits or berries
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
267 Moby Thesaurus words for "tail": Thule, Ultima Thule, acknowledgments, adherent, affix, aft, after, aftermost, afterpart, afterpiece, allonge, appendage, appendix, arm, arse, ass, attendant, back, back door, back matter, back seat, back side, backside, backward, bastard title, bedog, behind, bibliography, bitter end, bottom, bottom dollar, bough, boundary, braid, branch, breech, brush, buff, bum, bun, butt, butt end, buttocks, can, catch line, catchword, cauda, caudal, caudal appendage, caudate, caudated, caudation, caudiform, cavaliere servente, chase, cheeks, chignon, coda, codicil, coil, colophon, come after, come behind, commentary, conclusive, contents, contents page, copyright page, courtier, croup, cue, dangler, dedication, definitive, dependent, determinative, disciple, dock, dog, enclitic, endleaf, endmost, endpaper, endsheet, envoi, epilogue, errata, eventual, extreme, extremity, eye, fag end, fan, fanny, fantail, farthest, farthest bound, final, flag, flunky, flyleaf, folio, follow, follow a clue, follow up, follower, following, fore edge, foreword, front matter, go after, go behind, half-title page, hand, hanger-on, head, heel, henchman, hind, hind end, hind part, hinder, hindermost, hindhand, hindhead, hindmost, homme de cour, hound, hunt down, imp, imprint, index, infix, inscription, interlineation, interpolation, introduction, joint, jumping-off place, keister, knot, last, leaf, leg, limb, limit, limiting, link, lobe, lobule, makeup, marginalia, member, move behind, nib, nose, nose out, note, occiput, offshoot, organ, page, parasite, partisan, pigtail, pinion, plait, point, polar, pole, posterior, postern, postscript, prat, preface, prefix, preliminaries, proclitic, public, pursue, pursuer, pursuivant, queue, rabbit, ramification, rattail, rear, rear end, rearmost, rearward, recto, retrograde, reverse, reverso, rider, rump, run down, run to earth, runner, running title, rusty-dusty, satellite, scholia, scion, sectary, shadow, signature, smell out, sniff out, spray, sprig, spur, stalk, stern, stooge, string along, stub, stump, subtitle, successor, suffix, supporter, switch, tab, table of contents, tag, tag after, tag along, tag end, tagtail, tail end, tailed, tailgate, taillike, tailpiece, tendril, terminal, terminating, terminative, text, tip, title, title page, topknot, trace, trace down, track, track down, trail, trail after, trailer, train, trainbearer, tread close upon, trim size, tuchis, tush, tushy, twig, twist, type page, ultimate, verso, votary, wake, ward heeler, wing
From THE DEVIL'S DICTIONARY ((C)1911 Released April 15 1993) [devils]:
TAIL, noun 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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