shavetail
Americannoun
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U.S. Army. a second lieutenant.
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a young, newly broken mule.
Etymology
Origin of shavetail
1840–50, shave + tail 1; originally in reference to unbroken army mules, whose tails were shaved for identification
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.
Ford first noticed that he was unusual when a shavetail at Camp Grant.
From Time Magazine Archive
If Grove rolls in late, he has to prowl Intel's jammed lot looking for a space just like any shavetail engineer.
From Time Magazine Archive
The British, in independent little bands of armored cars and Bren carriers commanded by nothing loftier than shavetail lieutenants, flanked two successive defense lines, captured 1,100 men and 200 mules, and got the railway terminus.
From Time Magazine Archive
But after the U.S. entered the war, he won his shoulder bars, and as a young shavetail, he fought at Ch�teau-Thierry and in the third Battle of the Marne.
From Time Magazine Archive
Whatever else you be yore no shavetail or shorthorn, an’ that’s howsomever.
From The Black Wolf Pack by Beard, Daniel Carter
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.
