mare's-tail
Americannoun
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a long narrow cirrus cloud whose flowing appearance somewhat resembles a horse's tail.
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an erect, aquatic, Old World plant, Hippuris vulgaris, having crowded whorls of narrow, hairlike leaves.
noun
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a wisp of trailing cirrus cloud, often indicating high winds in the upper troposphere
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an erect cosmopolitan pond plant, Hippuris vulgaris, with minute flowers and crowded whorls of narrow leaves: family Hippuridaceae
Etymology
Origin of mare's-tail
First recorded in 1755–65
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.
Long, dappled mare's-tail clouds stretched across the pale November sky, and every now and then the sun shone out between them.
From A harum-scarum schoolgirl by Campbell, John
Ark is also the name of a mare's-tail cloud, or cirrhus, when it forms a streak across the sky.
From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Belcher, Edward, Sir
On the shore, where it is marshy, the mare’s-tail flourishes over some acres: there is often a slight marshy odour here, which increases as the foot presses the yielding mud.
From Wild Life in a Southern County by Jefferies, Richard
There is a disembodied skylark voice somewhere high up in the mare's-tail clouds which veil the earth from too much heat and brightness; and the young heart is unhardened and unspotted from the world.
From Despair's Last Journey by Murray, David Christie
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.
