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 trail climbs over reclaimed mine tailings, now grass-covered hills, and past an old mine building.

From Washington Post

Starting in the late ’80s, the company used soil to place a temporary cover over the tailings.

From Popular-Science

There, trucks take tailings from the train to the disposal cell, an excavated area that, once finished, will be a mile long and nearly half a mile wide.

From Popular-Science

In addition to being powered by renewable energy, CTR says the project uses a closed-loop direct extraction process that returns spent brine to its underground source and leaves no production tailings, a kind of waste reside from mining.

From TechCrunch

“If we can come up with a recipe on all these different tailings, the opportunities could explode,” Wilcox says.

From MIT Technology Review

Katy Perry was admonished for dressing up as an angel while tailing her grandmother to an event.

From The Daily Beast

The great irony is when we start to discuss the tailing ponds.

From The Daily Beast

The result, as George Washington University law professor Orin Kerr puts it, is “the digital equivalent of tailing a suspect.”

From The Daily Beast

Each day she drove out on deals with one of the Mexicans tailing her in the black Buick and collecting all the money she made.

From The Daily Beast

In the 1920s, that might have involved tailing suspects to their home.

From The Daily Beast

Tall trees on the lee side of it called for plenty of energetic side-slipping and fish-tailing.

From Project Gutenberg

Jimmy knew he was overshooting too much to dare attempt to kill his surplus speed by fish-tailing.

From Project Gutenberg

But the mysterious stranger was too quick for him, and when Tailing leapt to his feet he was alone.

From Project Gutenberg

A grassy glade slopes down to the bank, tailing away inland into a path something like a “ride” in an English game covert.

From Project Gutenberg

I had done a fine job of tailing and I wanted someone to pin a leather medal on me.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• intelligence