tail

¹ American  

[teyl] / teɪl /

noun

1. the hindmost part of an animal, especially that forming a distinct, flexible appendage to the back end of its body.

2. something resembling or suggesting this in shape or position.

   the tail of a kite.

3. Astronomy. the luminous stream extending from the head of a comet.

4. the reverse of a coin (opposed to head).

5. Aeronautics. the after portion of an airplane or the like.

6. tails,

   1. tailcoat.

   2. the tapering skirts or ends at the back of a coat, especially a tailcoat.

   3. men's full-dress attire.

   4. Distilling. alcohol obtained in the final distillation.

7. Slang. the buttocks or rump.

8. Informal. a person who trails or keeps a close surveillance of another, as a detective or spy.

   The police decided to put a tail on the suspect.

9. Informal. the area directly behind a person in motion; the wake or trail of a person: The car behind me was riding my tail far too closely.

   They put a detective on his tail.

   The car behind me was riding my tail far too closely.

10. Slang: Vulgar.

    1. sexual intercourse.

    2. Usually Disparaging and Offensive. a woman considered as a sex object.

11. the hinder, bottom, or end part of anything; the rear.

12. a final or concluding part of a sentence, conversation, social gathering, etc.; conclusion; end.

    The tail of the speech was boring.

    Toward the tail of the concert I'd begun to get tired.

13. the inferior or unwanted part of anything.

14. a long braid or tress of hair.

15. an arrangement of objects or persons extending as or as if a tail.

16. a line of persons awaiting their turns at something; queue.

17. a retinue; train.

18. the lower part of a pool or stream.

19. the exposed portion of a piece of roofing, as a slate.

20. Printing, Bookbinding. the bottom of a page or book.

21. Printing. the lower portion of a type, as of g, y, or Q.

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adjective

1. coming from behind.

   a tail breeze.

2. being in the back or rear.

   the tail section of a plane.

verb (used with object)

• tails,
  present (3rd person singular)
• tailed,
  past participle,  past
• tailing
  present participle

1. Informal. to follow in order to hinder escape of or to observe.

   to tail a suspect.

2. to form or furnish with a tail.

3. to form or constitute the tail or end of (a procession, retinue, etc.).

4. to terminate; come after or behind; follow like a tail.

5. to join or attach (one thing) at the tail or end of another.

6. Building Trades. to fasten (a beam, stone, etc.) by one end (usually followed by in orinto ).

7. to dock the tail of (a horse, dog, etc.).

verb (used without object)

• tails,
  present (3rd person singular)
• tailed,
  past participle,  past
• tailing
  present participle

1. to follow close behind.

   She always tails after her sister.

2. to disappear gradually or merge into.

   The path tails off into the woods.

3. to form, or move or pass in, a line or column suggestive of a tail.

   The hikers tailed up the narrow path.

4. (of a boat) to have or take a position with the stern in a particular direction.

5. Building Trades. (of a beam, stone, etc.) to be fastened by one end (usually followed by in orinto ).

idioms

1. turn tail,

   1. to turn one's back on, as in aversion or fright.

   2. to run away from difficulty, opposition, etc.; flee.

      The sight of superior forces made the attackers turn tail.

2. with one's tail between one's legs, utterly humiliated; in defeat; dejectedly.

   They were forced to retreat with their tails between their legs.

tail ² American  

[teyl] / teɪl /

noun

1. the limitation of an estate to a person and the person’s heirs or some particular class of such heirs.

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adjective

1. limited to a specified line of heirs; entailed.

tail ¹ British  

/ teɪl /

noun

1. the region of the vertebrate body that is posterior to or above the anus and contains an elongation of the vertebral column, esp forming a flexible movable appendage

2. anything resembling such an appendage in form or position; the bottom, lowest, or rear part

   the tail of a shirt

3. the last part or parts

   the tail of the storm

4. the rear part of an aircraft including the fin, tailplane, and control surfaces; empennage

5. astronomy the luminous stream of gas and dust particles, up to 200 million kilometres long, driven from the head of a comet, when close to the sun, under the effect of the solar wind and light pressure

6. the rear portion of a bomb, rocket, missile, etc, usually fitted with guiding or stabilizing vanes

7. a line of people or things

8. a long braid or tress of hair

   a ponytail

   a pigtail

9. Also called: tailfly.  angling the lowest fly on a wet-fly cast

10. a final short line in a stanza

11. informal a person employed to follow and spy upon another or others

12. an informal word for buttocks See buttock

13. taboo

    1. the female genitals

    2. a woman considered sexually (esp in the phrases piece of tail, bit of tail )

14. printing

    1. the margin at the foot of a page

    2. the bottom edge of a book

15. the lower end of a pool or part of a stream

16. informal the course or track of a fleeing person or animal

    the police are on my tail

17. (modifier) coming from or situated in the rear

    a tail wind

18. to run away; escape

19. in a state of utter defeat or confusion

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verb

1. to form or cause to form the tail

2. to remove the tail of (an animal); dock

3. (tr) to remove the stalk of

   to top and tail the gooseberries

4. (tr) to connect (objects, ideas, etc) together by or as if by the tail

5. informal (tr) to follow stealthily

6. (tr) to tend (cattle) on foot

7. (intr) (of a vessel) to assume a specified position, as when at a mooring

8. to build the end of (a brick, joist, etc) into a wall or (of a brick, etc) to have one end built into a wall

tail ² British  

/ teɪl /

noun

1. the limitation of an estate or interest to a person and the heirs of his body See also entail

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adjective

1. (immediately postpositive) (of an estate or interest) limited in this way

tail Scientific  

/ tāl /

1. The rear, elongated part of many animals, extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body. Tails are used variously for balance, combat, communication, mating displays, fat storage, propulsion and course correction in water, and course correction in air.

2. A long, stream of gas or dust forced from the head of a comet when it is close to the Sun. Tails can be up to 150 million km (93 million miles) long, and they always point away from the Sun because of the force of the solar wind.

3. ◆ Plasma tails, or ion tails, appear bluish and straight and narrow, and are formed when solar wind forces ionized gas to stream off the coma. Dust tails are wide and curved, and are formed when solar heat forces trails of dust off the coma; solid particles reflecting the Sun's light create their bright yellow color.

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tail More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing tail

• bright-eyed and bushy-tailed
• can't make head or tail of
• get off one's tail
• heads or tails
• in two shakes (of a lamb's tail)
• on someone's coattails
• tiger by the tail
• turn tail
• work one's fingers to the bone (tail off)

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Sensitive Note

The meanings “sexual intercourse” and “female sexual partner” are both vulgar slang. When referring to a person, the term tail is usually used with disparaging intent and perceived as insulting.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• tailer
  noun
• taillessness
  noun
• tail-like
  adjective
• tailless
  adjective
• taillike
  adjective
• taillessly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• tailing
  present
• tailed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• tail
  simple
• tails
  simple
• have tailed
  perfect
• has tailed
  perfect
• am tailing
  progressive
• are tailing
  progressive
• is tailing
  progressive
• have been tailing
  perfect progressive
• has been tailing
  perfect progressive

Past

• tailed
  simple
• had tailed
  perfect
• was tailing
  progressive
• were tailing
  progressive
• had been tailing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will tail
  simple
• will have tailed
  perfect
• will be tailing
  progressive
• will have been tailing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of tail¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English tægl, tægel; cognate with Old Norse tagl “horse's tail,” Gothic tagl “(single) hair,” Middle High German zagel “tail,” Middle Low German tagel “rope, rope-end, scourge”

Origin of tail²

First recorded in 1200–50; (noun) Middle English taille, from Old French, derivative of taillier “to cut,” from Late Latin tāliāre ( see tailor ¹); (adjective) late Middle English taille, from Anglo-French tailé “cut, shaped, limited,” past participle of tailler

Explanation

The part of a dog's body that wags enthusiastically when the dog is happy is the tail. In mammals, tails are actually an extension of the spinal column. Tails serve various purposes in different animals. A fish's tail helps it move through the water, a cow's tail is a built-in fly swatter, and a scorpion uses its tail for self-defense. This noun also means simply "back end," like the tail of an airplane or the tail of a suit jacket. Colloquially, to tail someone means to follow them secretly.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tail tails tailed tailing

The pair closed on Hamilton together and the three were running nose to tail by lap 52.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

The bank said it was a record for short covering, or closing out short positions, across biotech, and a “genuine tail event” in positioning.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

The first two days after an earthquake are crucial for finding survivors under rubble, with some experts saying there is a 72-hour window, after which hopes quickly tail off.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

I work from the tail toward the head until my plate holds just a frame, some skin, one or two fries I’m saving for no good reason.

From Salon ● Aug. 11, 2026

Clare dropped his tail and slumped to the ground.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

A great many dogs run up to me, tails wagging, tongues lolling.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026

The results were as unequivocal as heads and tails.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026

“While there may not be an immediate catalyst to exit the carry trade, the tails are fat and the probability for regime shift remains higher than usual.”

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 2, 2026

And flipping a coin on heads, or tails, 24 times in a row has odds of one in 16.7 million.

From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026

The bell rang at Brookshire Boys Academy, and an ocean of testosteronies crashed into the hallway, green ties swinging like polyester tails coming from their throats.

From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds

Dance then tailed him in her BMW along the A127 to Basildon, while Summers followed in a rented Toyota.

From BBC ● May 29, 2026

But those lawsuits tailed off after the 1990s as the center increasingly focused on what it calls “tracking hate.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026

However, traffic tailed off the second half of the year, with the L.A. port expecting a single-digit decline in volume this year before Friday’s decision.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026

Sauropods were long necked, long tailed plant eaters that grew into the largest animals ever to walk on land, yet their earliest life stages were small, exposed, and highly vulnerable.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 1, 2026

Slowly, Soraya came to us, tailed by a pro­cession of young female relatives.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini

But consider that, for one year, that 6.9% price increase has come on top of a tailing distribution rate of 8.82%, which is based on the current price.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026

She is in the early stages of developing a tool to quickly identify behaviour like lurking and tailing, and direct help when it is needed.

From BBC ● Mar. 9, 2026

They’re tailing skiers as they rip through moguls.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026

But other portions were harder to confirm -- with Thai authorities not providing information, and Chinese officials tailing our reporters and impeding efforts to talk further with him.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2025

Until, that is, she finds Dex and Tristas tailing her to the barracks two nights before the Third Trial.

From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir

Related Words

• back end
• rear
• rudder