pigtail
Americannoun
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pigtails
plural
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a braid of hair hanging down the back of the head.
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pigtails, two bunches of hair gathered and fastened on either side of the head, in braids or hanging freely.
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tobacco in a thin, twisted roll.
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Electricity.
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a short, flexible wire used in connecting a stationary terminal with a terminal having a limited range of motion.
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a short wire connected to an electric device, as a lead or ground.
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noun
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a bunch of hair or one of two bunches on either side of the face, worn loose or plaited
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a twisted roll of tobacco
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of pigtail
Explanation
A pigtail is a section of hair tied at the back or sides of a person's head so that it sticks out a little or hangs down. Although pigs only have one, pigtails often come in pairs. Some people think pigtails and braids are two different hairstyles (and often, a single pony tail to be a third), but others just call them all pigtails. The word, an American invention, originally described a twisted piece of chewing tobacco that was thought to resemble a pig's curly tail. The hairstyle was first called pigtails in the mid-1700s.
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.
See Examples For:
Mitchell sat in the centre, wearing a pink floral silk shirt, with her hair in pigtail braids under a purple beret, and carrying a cane adorned with a small bear's head.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2023
Same size, different headers, but there’s a pigtail of breakout cables that do most of the same things.
From The Verge ● Jul. 29, 2021
“All of it — the pigtail, the poofy part in the back, that roll of perfect curls near his neck.”
From Washington Post ● Feb. 14, 2018
His characters, who included herbalists and nightclub dancers, ate foods that were unknown to most Americans such as "medicine pigtail soup," "smoked duck feet steamed with pork" or "bitter melon."
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2016
He snatched at her pigtail and pressed it to his wet moustache, kissing it vigorously.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
But "when I'm with Hyodol, I never get hurt", she said, holding the cuddly doll with pigtails and a pink gingham dress, provided by her local municipality.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
Lancashire, who appeared at the hearing via a video link from HMP Peterborough, wore her brown hair in pigtails - one tied with a pink ribbon and one with a blue ribbon.
From BBC ● Mar. 5, 2026
Now he is raising a 4-year-old daughter with the help of Barnica’s younger brother; every weekend, they take her to see her grandmother, who knows how to braid her hair in pigtails.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2024
They wore pigtails, baby slings, ironic T-shirts, a head scarf, a lobster hat, a crown, a tiara and halos of white hair.
From New York Times ● Aug. 25, 2023
He was still holding on to Morosina’s pigtails.
From "The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funke
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.
