tailing

[tey-ling]

noun

1. the part of a projecting stone or brick tailed or inserted in a wall.

2. tailings,

   1. Building Trades.,  gravel, aggregate, etc., failing to pass through a given screen.

   2. the residue of any product, as in mining; leavings.

tailing

/ ˈteɪlɪŋ /

noun

1. the part of a beam, rafter, projecting brick or stone, etc, embedded in a wall

Word History and Origins

Origin of tailing¹

First recorded in 1640–50; tail ¹ + -ing ¹

Example Sentences

The tailings dam at a Sino Metals copper mine failed in Feb.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The tailings facility is where waste from mining is stored.

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The video starts with a Jeep Cherokee with tinted windows tailing a dark gray truck before ramming the passenger door on the driver’s side.

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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.

Read more on Barron's

Apart from some surveillance, tailing suspects, one fatal encounter and an occasional chase, there’s little in the way of capital-A Action, mostly just a lot of talk — inquisitive, instructive, threatening, discursive, domestic or speechifying.

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Related Words

• intelligence