bobtail

American  

[bob-teyl] / ˈbɒbˌteɪl /

noun

1. a short or docked tail. tails.

2. an animal with such a tail. tails.

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adjective

1. Also bobtailed having a bobtail.

2. cut short; docked; cropped.

3. shorter or briefer than usual; abbreviated.

   Several legislative items must be dropped from the current bobtail session of Congress.

verb (used with object)

1. to cut short the tail tails of; dock, often by cutting a muscle in a horse's tail to make it stand erect.

bobtail British  

/ ˈbɒbˌteɪl /

noun

1. a docked or diminutive tail

2. an animal with such a tail

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adjective

1. having the tail cut short

verb

1. to dock the tail of

2. to cut short; curtail

Etymology

Origin of bobtail

First recorded in 1535–45; bob ² + tail ¹

Example Sentences

He drives a bobtail truck moving furniture across Southern California.

From Los Angeles Times

It was a large, robust cat about the size of a jaguar, with an elongated face, lanky front legs, and a sloping back that ended in a bobtail.

From Science Daily

Crook’s group has been comparing several painkillers in bobtail squid, but Crook says that they haven’t had much luck figuring out which drugs are the most effective, despite testing hundreds of animals.

From Scientific American

Research will shift from the day octopus to the Hawaiian bobtail squid, which is unregulated.

From Washington Times

Researchers at the Marine Biological Laboratory have succeeded in using the tool CRISPR-Cas9 to edit the genes of a squid local to Cape Cod, as well as the lab’s hummingbird bobtail squid, they said.

From New York Times