coat-trailing

[ koht-trey-ling ]

noun

, British.

1. behavior that is deliberately provocative.

Word History and Origins

Origin of coat-trailing¹

First recorded in 1925–30; from the phrase trail one's coat, provoking someone to step on it

Example Sentences

There was nothing in all the world but whiteness, and a silly old bodach with a red coat trailing across it.

From Project Gutenberg