tail

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She has an American accent.

NGSL Rank: 2536
tail
teɪl Listen
Meanings
noun
  • the hindmost part of an animal, especially when prolonged beyond the rest of the body, such as the flexible extension of the backbone in a vertebrate, the feathers at the hind end of a bird, or a terminal appendage in an insect.
    E.g. the dog's tail began to wag frantically
  • a thing resembling an animal's tail in its shape or position, typically extending downwards or outwards at the end of something.
    E.g. the tail of a capital Q
  • the end of a long train or line of people or vehicles.
    E.g. a catering truck at the tail of the convoy
  • a person secretly following another to observe their movements.
    E.g. I can't put a tail on him, I don't know where he's gone
  • a person's buttocks.
    E.g. the coach kicked Ryan in his tail
  • the side of a coin without the image of a head on it (used when tossing a coin to determine a winner).
    E.g. the chances of heads and tails in the long run are equal
verb
  • follow and observe (someone) closely, especially in secret.
    E.g. a flock of paparazzi had tailed them all over London
  • provide with a tail.
    E.g. her calligraphy was topped by banners of black ink and tailed like the haunches of fabulous beasts
  • (of an object in flight) drift or curve in a particular direction.
    E.g. the next pitch tailed in on me at the last second
  • remove the stalks or ends of (fruit or vegetables) in preparation for cooking.
  • pull on the end of (a rope) after it has been wrapped round the drum of a winch a few times, in order to prevent slipping when the winch rotates.
  • join (one thing) to another.
noun
  • limitation of ownership, especially of an estate or title limited to a person and their direct descendants.
    E.g. the land was held in tail general

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