tails

American

[teylz] / teɪlz /

adjective

(of a coin) with the reverse facing up.

On the next toss, the coin came up tails.

noun

tailcoat.

tails British

/ teɪlz /

plural noun

an informal name for tail coat

"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

interjection

with the reverse side of a coin uppermost: used as a call before tossing a coin Compare heads

"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

Etymology

Origin of tails

First recorded in 1675–85; tail ¹ + -s ¹

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.

“Guys, thank you for coming to my midlife crisis,” said Eric André, standing on a podium in front of the Colburn Orchestra in a black tuxedo with tails and wielding a baton.

From Los Angeles Times • May 18, 2026

Long necks, enormous bodies, tiny heads, and sweeping tails have made sauropods some of the most recognizable dinosaurs ever discovered.

From Science Daily • May 12, 2026

Importantly, defense spending and the potential for rearming will be “one of the long tails of this war,” Blitz wrote in a Wednesday client note, which also warned of related inflation risks.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 8, 2026

My parents were left with a choice: Move back to Argentina with their tails between their legs, or start again where they were.

From Salon • Apr. 4, 2026

Both had tails that ended in a ball of thorns and expressions of deepest concentration.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023