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tail
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- pronunciation:
- teIl
- parts of speech:
- noun, adjective, verb
- features:
- Homophone Note, Word Explorer
| part of speech: |
noun |
| definition 1: |
The tail is the part of an animal that sticks out at the back of its body. Some animals, like rabbits, have short tails. Other animals, like some lizards, have a very long tail.
I told my little brother to stop pulling the cat's tail.
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| definition 2: |
A tail is a long thing that is somewhat like an animal's tail.
Alex attached a tail to her kite.The comet had a long tail. |
| definition 3: |
The back side of a coin is called "tails." The front side of a coin is called "heads." The "heads" side usually has a person's head on it. Often, the person is a leader or ruler of a country. The "tails" side might have something like a bird or other natural thing on it.
I'll flip a coin, and you say whether you think it will land heads or tails.- antonyms:
- head
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| related words: |
member |
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| part of speech: |
adjective |
| definition: |
If something is at the tail end of something, it is at the spot that is the farthest back.
We were late getting to the ticket office, so we were at the tail end of the line. |
| related words: |
back, rear |
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| part of speech: |
verb |
| inflections: |
tails, tailing, tailed |
| definition 1: |
If something tails another thing, it comes at the end of it or follows behind it.
The riders on horses tailed the parade.My family and my cousin's family went in two cars on our vacation. My dad drove ahead and my uncle tailed us. |
| definition 2: |
(informal) When a police officer tails a car, it means that the officer secretly follows the car to watch it.
The police tailed the suspect's car for many blocks. Finally the car stopped and the suspect got out. |
| related words: |
chase, follow, pursue, trace, track, trail |
| derivations: |
tailless (adj.), taillike (adj.) |
Are you looking for the word tale (a story)? Tail and tale sound alike but have different meanings.
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