fishtail
Americanverb (used without object)
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to swerve or skid from side to side, as the rear end of a car.
-
to slow an airplane by causing its tail to move rapidly from side to side.
noun
-
such a maneuver.
-
a gas burner having two jets crossing each other so as to produce a flame resembling a fish's tail.
-
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
-
a nozzle having a long narrow slot at the top, placed over a Bunsen burner to produce a thin fanlike flame
verb
-
to slow an aeroplane by moving the tail from side to side
-
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.
"If you see a dodgy-looking person wearing a Diana Ross fishtail number hanging around Dunstable, bear in mind it might just be mine, and get in touch," she said.
From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2023
The world provides guardrails against our juvenile impulses, particularly the ones we continue to drag behind us as we fishtail into our middle years.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 16, 2023
Then the speeding tractor-trailer started to fishtail uncontrollably, said the teenager, Esvin Chipel Tzoy.
From New York Times ● Dec. 10, 2021
The car started to fishtail before sliding out of control off the runway and into a grassy area from which spectators were watching.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 25, 2021
Her dress rips, but she's too tired to look down at the fishtail train that's threatening to fall off.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
