shirttail

[ shurt-teyl ]

/ ˈʃɜrtˌteɪl /

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noun

the part of a shirt below the waistline.

Journalism. a brief item added at the end of a related newspaper story.Compare follow-up (def. 3b).

adjective

quite young and immature in behavior.

Chiefly Midland and Southern U.S. of distant relation, especially by marriage: some shirttail cousins I'd never met.

verb (used with object)

Informal. to append or add (an item) to a discussion or writing: The tariff concessions were shirttailed onto the trade bill.

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

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Origin of shirttail

An Americanism dating back to 1835–45; shirt + tail¹

Words nearby shirttail

shirt jacket, shirt-lifter, shirtmaker, shirt-sleeve, shirt-stud abscess, shirttail, shirtwaist, shirtwaister, shirty, shisha, shish kebab

How to use shirttail in a sentence

We then and there decided, almost unanimously, to follow Shirttail.
Gold|Stewart White
Then Penelope hobbled up and pulled Mark's shirttail out of his trousers.
You Too Can Be A Millionaire|Noel Miller Loomis
Tom opened one of the containers of water and dipped his shirttail into it.
Stand by for Mars!|Carey Rockwell

British Dictionary definitions for shirttail

shirt-tail

noun

the part of a shirt that extends below the waist

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012