fishtail
Americanverb (used without object)
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to swerve or skid from side to side, as the rear end of a car.
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to slow an airplane by causing its tail to move rapidly from side to side.
noun
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such a maneuver.
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a gas burner having two jets crossing each other so as to produce a flame resembling a fish's tail.
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a device having a long, narrow slot at the top, placed over a gas jet, as of a Bunsen burner, to give a thin, fanlike flame.
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Jewelry. a setting consisting of four prominent triangular corner prongs to hold the stone.
noun
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an aeroplane manoeuvre in which the tail is moved from side to side to reduce speed
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a nozzle having a long narrow slot at the top, placed over a Bunsen burner to produce a thin fanlike flame
verb
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to slow an aeroplane by moving the tail from side to side
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to drive with the rear of the vehicle moving from side to side in an uncontrolled fashion
Etymology
Origin of fishtail
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A key bridge that leads to the town of Fishtail collapsed, causing traffic to divert through a single-lane county road.
From Washington Times • Jun. 19, 2022
Johnson and his Malaysian wife Yokie took over the lease on a landmark 124-year-old Fishtail building earlier this year, transferring their restaurant from another part of the state.
From Washington Times • Jun. 19, 2022
Even though I’ve lived in nearby Bozeman for 28 years, there’s something provocative about Fishtail, Mont., a tiny town with about 250 residents.
From New York Times • Jun. 13, 2022
There are countless positions that have to be mastered: the Ballet Leg, the Fishtail, the Front Pike, the Knight, the Dolphin and the Catalina Reverse Rotation.
From Washington Post • Aug. 7, 2021
“Owah,” said Fishtail, in wonder, “you are much beloved by the creatures.”
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
