Forms: 1 tæȝel, tæȝl, 3 teil, 3– tail; also 3–8 tayl, 4 taille, 4–6 tayll(e, 4–7 taile, tayle, 5–6 taill; Sc. 4–6 tale. [Com. Teut.: OE. tæȝel, tæȝl, = ON. tagl a horse’s tail (Sw. tagel horse-hair of tail or mane); OHG. zagel, MHG. zagel, dial. zail, zeil, tail of animal, etc., mod.Ger. dial. zagel, zâl, zael tail; LG. tagel a twisted scourge or whip of thongs or ropes, a rope-end, rope (Brem. Wbch.), Goth. tagl hair (of the head, of the camel). Ulterior etymology uncertain; but the evidence appears to show that the primary sense was either ‘hair’ or ‘hairy tail,’ as of the horse, ox, fox, etc., whence it was extended to the tails of other animals. Already in OE. it was applied to the tails of ‘worms’ or reptiles, and to the sting of the bee. In OE. the tail was also called steort, START. = Da staart.]
1. The posterior extremity of an animal, in position opposite to the head, either forming a distinct flexible appendage to the trunk, or being the continuation of the trunk itself behind the anus. Also, a representation or figure of this part.
In most vertebrate animals, consisting of a number of gradually attenuated coccygeal vertebræ covered with flesh and integument; in quadrupeds often clothed with hair, in birds with feathers (see also PEACOCK’S TAIL), and in fishes bearing the caudal fin; in invertebrate animals, sometimes a distinct and well-marked member, at other times not distinctly marked off from the rest of the body.
a. 800. Laws of Ine, c. 59. Oxan tæȝl bið scill[inges] weorð.
a. 1023. Wulfstan, Hom., xlii. (1883), 200. Eȝeslice mycele deor … hi habbaþ tæȝlas ðam wyrmum ȝelice.
c. 1200. Vices & Virtues, 151. Ðat ðe tail ware on auriche netene.
c. 1205. Lay., 29557. Heo … nomen tailes of rehȝen and hangede on his cape.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 254. Sansumes foxes … weren bi þe teiles iteied ueste … And in euerich ones teile a blase berninde.
c. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 363/38. And teiden him sethþe to a wilde hors at þe taile bihinde.
1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 4419–23. He says, ‘with his tayle he droghe don even Þe thred part of þe sternes of heven,’… Þis was þe taille of þe dragon.
c. 1391. Chaucer, Astrol., II. § 4. The tail of the dragoun, is in [þe] hows of the assendent.
1413. Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton), I. xix. (1859), 19. No body had he under this hede, but only a tayl whiche semyd the tayle of a worme.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, V. iv. 165. The bore … whiche was x foote large fro the hede to the taylle.
1483. Caxton, Gold. Leg., 174 b/2. Castyng on hym the tayles of thornback or like fisshes.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, b ij b. The federis of the wynges and of the taylle.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VII., 30. Thinkyng to haue gotten God by the foote, when she had the deuell by the tayle.
1600. J. Pory, trans. Leo’s Africa, IX. 341. Others affirmed that they had seene one of those tailes [of a sheep] of an hundred and fiftie pounds weight.
a. 1604. Hanmer, Chron. Irel. (1633), 125. This reformation was but a sweeping of a house with a Foxes tayle.
1626. Yates, Ibis ad Cæsarem, I. 6. Though the head of this Hydra was cut off, yet it had still a frigling taile.
1690. Locke, Hum. Und., III. ii. § 3. A Child … applies the Word Gold only to his own Idea of that Colour, and nothing else; and therefore calls the same Colour in a Peacock’s Tail, Gold.
a. 1727. Newton, Chronol. Amended, i. (1728), 83. The Tayl of the South Fish [constellation].
1826. Kirby & Sp., Entomol., III. xxxiii. 389. Cauda (the Tail). Where the abdomen grows suddenly slenderer, and terminates in a long jointed tail, as in Scorpio and Panorpa.
1861. Hulme, trans. Moquin-Tandon, II. III. iii. 96. The abdomen [of the Crayfish], improperly termed the tail.
1894. Newton, Dict. Birds, 701. The so-called ‘tail’ of the Peacock is formed not by the rectrices or true tail-feathers, but by the singular development of the tail-coverts.
b. The tail of a horse, of which one, two, or three were borne before a pasha as insignia of rank: see PASHA (note), and HORSE-TAIL 1 b.
1717. Lady M. W. Montagu, Lett. to Abbé Conti, 17 May. The pashas of three tails have those ensigns … placed in a very conspicuous manner before their tents.
1820. Hughes, Trav. Sicily, II. i. 2.3 It was governed by beys, and pashas of two tails, sent by the Porte.
1836. Penny Cycl., V. 231/1. Bosnia … is governed by a pasha of three tails, to whom the governors of the six sandshaks, who are pashas of two tails, are subordinate.
† c. Contemptuously: expressing exhaustive clearance: cf. HOOF 3. Obs.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 214. Of þe aliens ilk taile þe lond voided clere.
1525. Ld. Berners, Froiss., II. xlix. 171. There shall not one tayle of them retourne agayne into fraunce.
2. A thing, part, or appendage, resembling the tail of an animal in shape or position.
a. In general sense. b. The luminous train usually extending from the ‘head’ of a comet. † c. The germinating sprout of barley; = COME sb.2 Obs. d. The stalk or peduncle of a fruit (obs.); the stalk of a mushroom (dial.). e. The attenuated part of a muscle at its insertion. f. A twisted or braided tress of hair; a queue, pig-tail. g. In writing and printing, A stroke or loop forming the lower portion of certain letters and figures, and usually passing below the line. h. In musical notation, The line proceeding from the head of a note; the stem. i. A kind of wooden lever at the lack of a windmill by which it is turned to the wind; also, a vane for the same purpose. j. The long handle of an implement, as a rake. k. = QUEUE sb. 3; in phrase in tail rendering the Fr. en queue.
a. 1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 14. The roughe otes … be very lyghte, and haue longe tayles, wherby they wyll hange eche one to other.
1666. G. Harvey, Morb. Angl., xxxv. 112. The Distill’d water of those tails that hang on Willow Trees.
1683. Tryon, Way to Health, xix. (1697), 416. To see … a Man, (according to the Vulgar Proverb) appear like an Onion with a Gray Head and a Green Tail.
1776. Withering, Brit. Plants (1796), II. 499. Flowers naked; seeds without tails.
1808. Curwen, Econ. Feeding Stock, 54. Turnips … with the tops and tails cut off.
1883. R. Haldane, Workshop Receipts, Ser. II. 255/1. Be careful not to leave clouds or tails where the brush leaves the roof after the stroke.
1883. Knight, Cruise Falcon (1887), 125. Some tails of strong black tobacco.
1884. W. C. Smith, Kildrostan, I. iv. 253. I … cannot rise Without it … More than the kite without its load of tail.
1901. Daily Chron., 12 Aug., 3/3. The Kallima butterfly … generally rests upon the trunk of a tree … with the ‘tails’ on the hind wings directed upwards.
b. [1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 8604. Þe taylede sterre men clupeþ … Vor þer comþ fram hire a lem suiþe cler & briȝte, As a tayl oþer a launce.]
1572. T. Smith, in Ellis, Orig. Lett., Ser. III. IV. 7. The new faire Starre, or Comett, but without beard or taile, which hath appeared here this three weekes.
1690. Leybourn, Curs. Math., 451. Kepler is of Opinion, that the Tail of a Comet is only enlightened by the Sun’s Beams.
1738. Gentl. Mag., VIII. 244/2. They … terrify the gazing Nations, who from their glaring Tail and hideous Aspect forbode the worst of Consequences.
1849. Herschel, Outl. Astron., § 557. The tail is … by no means an invariable appendage of comets.
1890. Lockyer, Meteoritic Hypothesis, IV. II. xiv. 150. When the tail [of a comet] is first noticed it often takes the form of a long narrow bright bar, following an almost circular head of much greater cross-section.
1921. Rex Beach, Oh, Shoot! i. 22. They were moored astern of us, launches, battery boats, and decoy skiffs streaming out like the tail of a comet.
c. 1594. Plat, Jewell-ho., I. 49. The duste and tailes of the malt, which are left in malting.
1763. Museum Rust. (ed. 2), I. 114. In what manner to make a profitable use of malt-dust; that is, the dust, tails, &c. which fall off in the screening.
1805. R. W. Dickson, Pract. Agric., I. 223. The dust which is screened from malt, mixed with the tails,… may be converted to the purpose of manure.
d. 1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage (1614), 184. If the tayle or woodden substance, whereby it groweth, be on it [an apple].
e. 1719. Quincy, Lex. Physico-Med. (1722), 5. The Tendon formed by the Tails of several Muscles.
1877. Rosenthal, Muscles & Nerves (1881), 13. The ends are spoken of as the head and tail, of the muscle.
f. 1799. in Spirit Pub. Jrnls., III. 320. Club nor queue, nor twisted tail Nor e’en thy chatt’ring, barber! shall avail.
1840. Marryat, Poor Jack, vii. In a minute the tail was off.
1852. Mrs. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s C., xx. Her woolly hair was braided in sundry little tails.
1877. A. B. Edwards, Up Nile, xxii. 70. They wore their hair … plaited in long tails behind.
g. 1599. Middleton, etc., Old Law, III. i. 76. The cipher is turned into 9 by adding the tail.
1676. Moxon, Print. Lett., 16. Describe the Arch for the inside of the Tail of a.
1771. Luckombe, Hist. Printing, 280. The J … should run to the depth of three lines, on account of its tail.
1852. Mrs. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s C., iv. Uncle Tom laboriously brought up the tail of his g the wrong side out.
1893. Furnivall, Capgrave’s Life S. Kath. (E.E.T.S.), p. xxxix., note. Hart’s e has a curl or tail under it.
h. c. 1325. in Rel. Ant., I. 292. Ther is a streinant, with to longe tailes.
1597. Morley, Introd. Mus., 9. If your first note lack a tayle.
1674. Playford, Skill Mus., I. viii. 23. Semiquavers are Tyed together by a long stroke on the top of their Tails.
1879. Grove, Dict. Mus., s.v. Crotchet, But croche is a quaver … and is so called on account of the hook at the end of its tail.
i. 1712. J. James, trans. Le Blond’s Gardening, 192. Turning themselves to the Wind, by means of a Tail in Form of a Ship’s Rudder, which turns about every way.
1892. P. H. Emerson, Son of Fens, xxxii. 336. I … got hold of the rope and pulled the gripe up, and made that fast round the tail so that wouldn’t jerk her off.
k. 1837. Carlyle, Fr. Rev., I. VI. iv. Long strings of purchasers, arranged in tail so that the first come be the first served. Ibid. In time we shall see … the art … of standing in tail become one of the characteristics of the Parisian People, distinguishing them from all other Peoples.
† 1. A piece or ‘slip’ of irregularly bounded land jutting out from a larger piece. Sc. Obs.
Represented in med.L. by cauda, e.g., 1546–80 in Regr. of Great Seal of Scotl., No. 268 Croftam seu caudam; Exch. Rolls of Scotl., VII. 169 Cauda de Lekkok vel tale de Lekkok.
1472. Rental Bk. Cupar Angus (1879), I. 162. With the twa talis of land left and made to ws be the last perambulatioun.
1541. Records of Elgin (New Spald. Cl., 1903), I. 64. Mr Thomas Gaderar … complenit vpon Robert Mawar for cassin ane stank upon ane taill pertynyng to the said Mr Thomas. Ibid. (1550), 100. Ane taill of land lyand on the north syid of the said burgh. Ibid. (1690), 349. Croftis, taillis, yairdis and utheris lyabill in paying the teynd scheaff.
3. The train or tail-like portion of a woman’s dress (now colloq.); the pendent posterior part of a man’s dress-coat or a peasant’s long coat; the loose part of any coat below the waist; (often in pl.) the bottom or lower edge of a gown, a skirt, etc., which reaches quite or nearly to the ground. Also dial. the skirt of a woman’s dress; tails, skirts.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 2513. Þis maide … side drou hire tail Akne to þe king ȝo sede, Louerd king, washayl.
a. 1450. Knt. de la Tour, 30 Her hodes, taylles, and sleues be not furred ynowgh after the shape that rennithe now.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, xiv. 73. Sic fowill tailis, to sweip the calsay clene, The dust vpskaillis.
1532. Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scotl., VI. So Ane doublat with ane taile, to the Kingis grace.
1560. Rolland, Crt. Venus, IV. 541. And Venus taill twa Ladeis vp it beiris.
1690. Crowne, Eng. Friar, V. Wks. 1874, IV. 111. Madam, speak to the ladies now I am here, to let down their trains; ’tis not manners in the presence of a man o’ my quality, to cock up their tails.
1762. Foote, Lyar, I. Wks. 1799, I. 277. The draggled tail of my tatter’d academical habit.
1857. Hughes, Tom Brown, I. viii. His friends at home … hadn’t put him into tails.
1887. E. R. Pennell, Harrow-on-the-Hill, in St. Nicholas, xiv. April, 406 (Cent. Dict.). Once a boy [at Harrow] has reached the modern remove, he puts on his ‘tails,’ or tailed coat.
1888. Century Mag., May, 128/1. He crossed the room, stepping over the tails of gowns, and stood before his old friend.
1890. Parnell, Sp. Ho. Comm., 14 Feb. To go about like the traditional Irishman at Donnybrook Fair, and exclaim ‘Will nobody tread on the tail of my coat?’
4. The lower or hinder extremity of anything; the part opposite to what is regarded as the head. a. in general application.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. V. 19. Beches and brode okes weore blowen to be eorþe, And turned vpward þe tayl.
1731. Mortimer, in Phil. Trans., XXXVII. 107. They [pack-threads] are all spread on a Cross-piece fastened to two Staples: These are called the Tail of the Mounture.
1778. Pryce, Min. Cornub., IV. ii. 234. The stony coarse poorer part settles … on the tail or lower end of the boards.
1805. R. W. Dickson, Pract. Agric., I. 296. The tail, or terminating part of the strata.
1859. F. Griffiths, Artill. Man. (1862), 114. The gun is at the tail of the platform.
1872. Ellacombe, Ch. Bells Devon, etc., ii. 217. Bells are sometimes chimed … by hitching the rope round the flight or tail of the clapper.
1887. D. A. Low, Machine Draw. (1892), 6. The head already formed on the rivet, and called the tail, is then held up, and the point is hammered or pressed so as to form another head.
1890. Billings, Nat. Med. Dict., Tail of epididymis, the lower pointed extremity.
1898. in Daily News, 8 Nov., 6/1. [Mr. Gladstone] would prefix the address and affix his signature, writing (as he called it) the ‘head and the tail.’
b. The terminal or concluding part of anything, as of a text, word, or sentence (cf. HEAD sb. 19), of a period of time, or something occupying time, as a storm, shower, drought, etc.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. III. 347. And þat is þe taille of þe tixte.
a. 1450. Merc, Par. Pr., 1889. Corte þow not þe wordes tayle.
1579. Fulke, Heskins’s Parl., 258. Here M. Hesk. choppeth off ye taile [of the sentence].
1613. Sir H. Nevill, in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), I. 131. The tail of this storm fell a little upon my Lord himself.
1771. Smollett, Humph. Cl., 20 April. I now sit down to execute the threat in the tail of my last [letter].
a. 1774. Fergusson, Sardie & Willie, Poems (1789), II. 4. It’s wearin’ on now to the tail o’ May.
1833. Ht. Martineau, Loom & Lugger, I. i. 16. At the tail of their conversation.
1872. Black, Adv. Phaeton, xx. 278. The tail of a shower sometimes overtaking us.
c. The rear-end of an army or marching column, of a procession, etc. (Cf. HEAD sb. 18 a.)
1565. Cooper, Thesaurus, s.v. Agmen, They cutte of the tayle of the armie, or kyll them that are behynde.
1610. Holland, Camden’s Brit. (1637), 43. They attempted to cut off the taile of our armie.
1800. Wellington, in Gurw., Desp. (1837), I. 197. Colonel Stevenson is after them, and will cut off part of the tail, I hope.
1858. O. W. Holmes, Aut. Breakf.-t., iii. 19. The wit knows that his place is at the tail of a procession.
1899. Baldock, Cromwell, 231. The King with the head of his column reached Harborough in safety, the tail quartering as far back as Naseby.
d. The hinder part of a cart, plough, or harrow; = PLOUGH-TAIL. (Cf. HEAD sb. 18 c.)
1466. Agnes Paston, Will, in P. Lett., II. 286. Withouȝt they shuld hold the plowe to the tayle.
1526. R. Whytford, Martiloge, 114 b. They were tyed unto the tayles of cartes, & so drawen thrugh bushes, breres, & thornes unto deth.
1547. (15 Nov.) City of Lond. Rep., in Vicary’s Anat. (1888), App. iii. 174. John Launder … & John Croydon … beggers … shall … be whypped naked att A Cartes Taylle.
1563–87, etc. [see CART’S-TAIL].
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., I. (1586), 21. The partes of the Plowe, are the Tayle, the Shelfe, the Beame [etc.].
1887. Jessopp, Arcady, iv. 117. Their sturdy sons will push their way, but not … at the plough’s tail.
† e. The stern of a ship or boat. (Cf. HEAD sb. 21.) Obs.
1553. Brende, Q. Curtius, T viij. Swimming at the boates tailes.
1645. Evelyn, Diary, June (1827), I. 312. These vessells [gondolas] are built very long and narrow, having necks and tailes of steele.
1709. Lond. Gaz., No. 4510/7. The Hoy Burthen 9 or 10 Tun, very full built forward, with a clean Tail.
f. The part of a mill-race below the wheel; the tail-race; the lower end of a pool or stream.
1533–4. Act 25 Hen. VIII., c. 7. Any other engine … at the taile of anie mille or were.
1613. J[ohn] D[ennys], Secr. Angling, II. xxvi. See some standing … at the Tayles of Mills and Arches small.
1725. De Foe, Voy. round World (1840), 288. The water … had made a pit under it with the fall, like the tail of a mill.
1829. Nat. Philos., I. Hydraulics, iii. 26 (Usef. Knowl. Soc). To permit a portion of the upper water to flow down into the tail or lower stream immediately in front of the wheel.
1867. F. Francis, Angling, i. (1880), 40. The tail of a pool is a favourite place for them.
1886. Q. Rev., Oct., 341. The tail of a swift stream, where it broadens out before another white rapid.
g. The spit or extremity of a reef or sandbank, where it slopes under the water.
1761. Chron., in Ann. Reg., 149/2. The Actaeon ran aground on the tail of the Pall-Bank.
1799. Hull Advertiser, 6 April, 3/1. The cutter got up as far as the tail of the bank.
1817. Sporting Mag., L. 172. At what sailors call the ‘Tail’ of the land, there is always a turbulent sea, or rather Race.
1858. Merc. Marine Mag., V. 225. Ships … should pass as close as possible to the tail of the Reef.
h. The reverse side of a coin; esp. in phr. head(s or tail(s: see HEAD sb. 3 b.
1684. Otway, Atheist, II. i. As Boys do with their Farthings … go to Heads or Tails for ’em.
1764. Bridges, Burlesque Homer (1774), 115 (Farmer).
| ’Tis heads for Greece, and tails for Troy … | |
| Two farthings out of three were tails. |
1801. Strutt, Sports & Past., IV. ii. (1810), 296. The reverse of the head being called the tail without respect to the figure upon it.
1884. Punch, 16 Feb., 73/1. A sovereign, a half sovereign,… or farthing, so long as it has a ‘head’ one side, and … a ‘tail’ the other.
1893. F. Adams, Nav Egypt, 267. The goddess who sits on the ‘tails’ side of our bronze currency.
i. The lower, inner, or subordinate end of a long-shaped block or brick; the bottom or visible part of a roofing slate or tile.
1793. Smeaton, Edystone L., § 82. The tail of the header was made to … bond with the interior parts.
1856. S. C. Brees, Gloss. Terms, Tail,… the lower end of the slate or tile.
j. Surg. Either end of an incision, which does not go through the whole thickness of the skin.
1846. Brittan, trans. Malgaigne’s Man. Oper. Surg., 5. The bistoury must be repeatedly passed over the same course, so as to divide layer by layer. Here ‘tails’ are inevitable; but this inconvenience is light in comparison to the advantages to be sometimes derived from this mode of operating.
k. Printing and Bookbinding. The lower edge of a page or cover. (Cf. HEAD sb. 13.)
1865. Hannett, Bibliopegia (ed. 6), 234. The head being cut, the book is taken out of the press, and the quantity to be taken off the tail marked with the compasses.
1895. Zaehnsdorf, Hist. Bookbinding, 25. Headbander, the person who works the fine silk or cotton ornament at head or tail of the book as a finish to the edge.
l. Tail of the eye, the outer corner of the eye. Out of, with the tail of the eye, with a sidelong or furtive glance.
1802. R. Anderson, Cumberld. Ball., 45. But I only made luive thro’ the tail o’ my e’e.
1824. Galt, Rothelan, II. V. iii. 203. ‘Sir Gibrel,’ cried the lady, at the same time winking to him with the tail of her eye.
1859. Reade, Love me little, xiv. Miss Lucy noticed this out of the tail of her eye.
1888. J. Payn, Myst. Mirbridge (Tauchn.), II. xvii. 187. Mrs. Westropp watched him with the tail of her eye as she talked to Lady Trevor.
1920. Abbie Farwell Brown, Heart of New England, 14, Pirate Treasure, 5.
| She bloomed in a mansion dull and stately, | |
| And as to Meeting she walked sedately, | |
| From the tail of her eye she liked him greatly, | |
| Hey! Jolly Roger, O. |
5. The lower and hinder part of the human body; the fundament, posteriors, buttocks, backside. Tail over top = top over tail: see TOP sb. Now dial. or low colloq.
1303. R. Brunne, Handl. Synne, 5416. Þarfor shul þey … Go to helle, both top and tayle. Ibid. (c. 1330), Chron. (1810), 70. Into þe waise þam fro he tombled top ouer taile.
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 16727. He bar him tayl ouer top, That he lay ther as a sop.
a. 1500[?]. Chester Pl. (Shaks. Soc.), II. 176. Thou take hym by the toppe and I by the tayle.
1530. Palsgr., 279/1. Tayle or arse, queue or cul.
1542. Udall, Erasm. Apoph., 81. He was forbidden to sitte on his taille & was charged to stand vpon his feete.
1686. trans. Chardin’s Trav. Persia, 97. They go Barefoot, and all in Tattars that hardly cover their Tails.
1723. Swift, Mary the Cook-Maid’s Lett., 31.
| Saunders said I, I would rather than a Quart of Ale, | |
| He would come into our Kitchen, and I would pin a Dish-clout to his Tail. |
1889. J. M. Duncan, Dis. Wom., xxxii. (ed. 4), 268. Ever since that time she has had pain, in what she calls her tail.
b. At († after) the tail of, at the back of, in the rear of, following; in the tail of, in the train of; so † to follow the tail of. Cf. 6.
13[?]. K. Alis., 2142 (Bodley MS.). Siweþ me after [Weber at] my taile.
1471. Ripley, Comp. Alch., V. xxviii., in Ashm., Theatr. Chem. Brit. (1652), 155. Folys doe folow them at the tayle.
1542. Udall, Erasm. Apoph., 283 b. After his taille should come his owne souldyours.
a. 1547. Surrey, Æneid, IV. 207. The skies gan rumble sore, In tail thereof a mingled showr with hayle.
1549. Latimer, 2nd Serm. bef. Edw. VI. (Arb.), 66. That ye wyll geue youre byshoppes charge yer they go home … to se your maiesties iniunctions better kepte, and sende youre visitours in theyr tayles.
1614. Raleigh, Hist. World, IV. ii. § 4. 147. In the taile of these Horses the Regiment of foot marched.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, xxiii. Peggy with the infantine procession at her tail.
1891. Hall Caine, Scapegoat, vii. She … had … come to Morocco at the tail of a Spanish embassy.
c. Sexual member; penis or (oftener) pudendum.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. III. 126. Heo is Tikel of hire Tayl … As Comuyn as þe Cart-wei to knaues and to alle.
c. 1450. Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.), 134. Suche a ȝonge damesel … Of hire tayle oftetyme be lyght.
1483. Cath. Angl., 377/1. A Tayle, penis equi est.
c. 1515. Cocke Lorell’s B. (Percy Soc.), 14. Many whyte nonnes with whyte vayles, That was full wanton of theyr tayles.
a. 1744. Pope, To Mr. J. Moore, iv.
| The Nymph whose Tail is all on Flame, | |
| Is aptly term’d a Glow-worm. |
1785. Grose, Dict. Vulg. T., s.v. Cab.
6. A train or band of followers; a following; a retinue. Also fig.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 10774. Hiderward Þe kinges conseilors londes hii destruede mid hor tayle.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. II. 160. I haue no tome to telle þe Tayl [B. II. 185 taille] þat hem folweþ.
c. 1420. ? Lydg., Assembly of Gods, 754. Or vngracious gastes he bryngeth a long tayll.
1578. Reg. Privy Council Scot., III. 15. To draw eftir thame a large taill of ignorant personis.
1633. B. Jonson, Tale Tub, II. i. Why should her worship lack Her tail of maids?
1675. M. Clifford, Hum. Reason, in Phenix (1708), II. 540. If Errors in Belief draw so ill a Tail after them as the Devils and Damnation.
1814. Scott, Wav., xvi. The Chief with his tail on … that is, with all his usual followers.
1838. [Miss Maitland], Lett. fr. Madras (1843), 180. Everybody has a tail, consisting of poor followers, flappers, and flatterers…. When head walks abroad, tail walks after him at a respectful distance.
1862. Sat. Rev., 15 March, 286. The glorious days when O’Connell’s tail supplied Lord Melbourne’s Cabinet with the means of protracting a miserable existence.
7. (Also pl.) The inferior, less valuable, or refuse part of anything; foots, bottoms, dregs, sediment. Also fig. Cf. TAILING vbl. sb.1 2.
1542. Boorde, Dyetary, x. (1870), 256. It [ale] must haue no weft nor tayle.
1642. Rogers, Naaman, 71. Abandoning the refuse and taile that remained.
1674. Ray, Collect. Words, Prepar. Metals, Tin, 123. The wast Tin that falls hindmost in the Buddle and Wreck, which they call the tail.
1778. Pryce, Min. Cornub., IV. i. 221. Ibid., Gloss, 329/1. Tails, the roughest refuse of stampt Tin thrown behind the tail or end of the buddle.
1890. Science, 5 Sept., 129. The tails or faints, as well as the still less volatile or ordinary fusel oil, are mixtures of several alcohols and fatty acid ethers.
b. (Also in pl.) Short for tail corn, etc.: see 12 b, and cf. TAILING vbl. sb.1 2 a.
1778. [W. Marshall], Minutes Agric., 14 Oct., an. 1775. Last year, we made a bushel of tail to every fifteen bushels of head.
1801. Farmer’s Mag., April, 215. After grinding [it] produced 483 lb. English of barley meal, 3 lb. and a half of tails, and 40 lb. and a half of bran.
1880. Jefferies, Gt. Estate, 110. He had a bushel of the ‘tail,’ or second flour, from the mill.
8. The inferior, least influential, or least skillful members of a body; e.g., of a profession, a political party, a cricket team, etc.
1604. Hieron, Wks., I. 493. Those that are but the refuse, and (as I may so speake) the taile of an honest profession.
1780. Burke, Corr. (1844), II. 385. I will say nothing about that tail which draggles in the dirt, and which every party in every state must carry about it.
1855. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., xv. III. 553. These Whigs … belonged, not to the main body of the party, but either to the head or to the tail.
1876. Grant, Burgh Sch. Scotl., II. xiii. 357. The more talented and industrious scholars are impeded for the sake of the tail of the class.
1892. Pall Mall G., 30 May, 1/3. It would seem as if Sussex has a very bad ‘tail’ indeed this year, the last seven batsmen being good for 35 only in the first innings and for but 37 in the second.
b. spec. The inferior animals of a flock or herd.
1844. Stephens, Bk. Farm, II. 39. The lambs, dinmonts, or wethers, that are drafted out of the fat stock, are called the sheddings or tails.
1886. C. Scott, Sheep-Farming, 88. With overstocking … not only is there a greater ‘tail’ among the lambs, but the death rate is higher.
9. In various figurative uses.
1340. Ayenb., 61. Zuyche byeþ ycleped ine writinge: tayles. Vor hi wreþ be uelþes of zenne of riche men uor zom timlich guod, hueruore hi byeþ anlicned to þe tayle of þe uoxe.
1382. Wyclif, Deut. xxviii. 13. The Lord thi God shal sett thee into heed, and not into tayl [1388 the tail].
1579. Tomson, Calvin’s Serm. Tim. 1036/1. That the worde of God is a truth, a truth without a taile (as wee say).
1630. Lennard, trans. Charron’s Wisd., I. xx. 88 (1670), 73. To swell and to be puffed up for every good and profitable action, is to shew his tail while he lifts up his head.
1742. Col. Records Pennsylv., IV. 555. The names of ‘Imposter…. Invader of the Liberties of the People’ (with a Tail or et cetera’s).
1786. Cowper, Lett. to W. Unwin, 24 Aug. I catch a minute by the tail and hold it fast, while I write to you.
1895. Mrs. B. M. Croker, Village Tales (1896), 64. One of the last joints in the tail of precedence.
10. Short for tail-ill: see 14. Obs. or dial.
1577. B. Googe, Heresbach’s Husb., III. (1586), 133. A disease which they call the Woolfe, others the Taile, which is perceiued by the loosenesse or softnesse betwixt the iointes.
1741. Compl. Fam.-Piece, III. 472. The Disease called the Tail, is by some Farmers called the Wolf.
11. Phrases. † a. Tail on end, said lit. of some beasts when running with the tail erect; hence attrib. headlong; precipitate(ly). b. With the tail between the legs, lit. of a dog or other beast; fig. with a cowed and dejected demeanor. † c. Tail and top, = top and tail: see TOP sb. d. To turn tail (orig. a term of falconry), to turn the back; hence, to run away, take to flight.
Crag and tail: see CRAG sb.1 1 b. Cut and long tail: see CUT ppl. a. 9. Head and (or, nor) tail: see HEAD sb. To twist the lion’s tail: see LION sb. 2 g. To put salt on the tail: see SALT sb.1 2 c. Top over tail: see TOP sb., and cf. sense 5.
a. 1790. R. Tyler, Contrast, II. ii. I was glad to take to my heels and split home, right off, tail on end.
1850. R. G. Cumming, Hunter’s Life S. Afr. (ed. 2), I. 98, note. Hunted on horseback, and ridden down by a long, severe, tail-on-end chase. Ibid., 120. The oryx leading me a cruel long chase due north, tail-on-end, from my waggons.
b. c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 59. A wood hound … renneþ hidirward & þidirward … wiþ … his tail bitwene hise leggis.
1884. W. E. Norris, Thirlby Hall, xii. We shall have you back here very soon … with your tail between your legs.
1897. Westm. Gaz., 22 Jan., 2/3. If this sneaking tail-between-the-legs policy is persisted in no more Church votes for the Union!
c. 1558. Phaer, Æneid, V. N j b. Headlong down in dust he ouerturnyd tayle and topp.
d. a. 1586. Sidney, Arcadia, II. (1629), 109. Would shee … turne taile to the Heron, and flie out quite another way.
1587. Greene, Euphues his Censure, Wks. (Grosart), VI. 192. To cast out no lure to such a haggarde as would turne taile to a full fist.
1589. Puttenham, Eng. Poesie, III. xxiv. (Arb.), 300. Such as retire from the Princes presence, do not by and by turne tayle to them as we do, but go backward or sideling for a reasonable space.
1611. Markham, Countr. Content., I. v. (1668), 34. Short winged Hawks … will many times neither kill their Game, nor flie their mark; but will give it over … and (as Faulconers term it) turn tail to it.
1639. Laud, in Rushw., Hist. Coll. (1721), II. II. 899. For him to turn tail against my Lord Deputy must needs be a foul Fault.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe (1840), I. xx. 360. The wolves turned tail.
1807. E. S. Barrett, Rising Sun, II. 128. Ashamed to avow that you are going to turn tail on your former principles.
12. attrib. or as adj. a. Forming or situated at the tail, bottom, or rear, hindmost; as tail decoy, half, hound, van; coming from the rear, as tail-wind. b. Forming the lowest or most inferior quality, as tail barley, corn, flour, meal, wheat.
a. 1673. S. C., Rules Civility, 104. Flounders, Place, or the like;… the tail-half is the best.
1857. Hughes, Tom Brown, I. vii. The tail hounds all straining to get up with the lucky leaders [in hare-and-hounds].
1874. J. W. Long, Amer. Wildfowl, xxv. 257. Wait until they are over the ‘tail’ decoys.
1891. Daily News, 23 Oct., 5/8. When the last train, with two engines, got through … the tail van is said to have been floating on the water.
1897. Westm. Gaz., 1 March, 8/1. With a strong tail wind birds have accomplished more than sixty miles in the hour.
b. 1765. Museum. Rust., IV. lxiii. 282. For tail barley … 0l. 14s. 3d.
1851. Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc., XII. I. 133. The light or tail corn goes a considerable length in feeding the horses upon a farm.
1887. O. Crawfurd, Beyond Seas, 35. The enemy’s army but riff-raff and tail-corn fellows.
13. General combs.: a. attributive, as tail-blotch, -cap, -feather, -fin, -flap (FLAP sb. 4 d), -fur, -plumage, -pocket, -quilt, -ring, -spot, -stroke, -temptation, -tip, etc.; b. objective and obj. gen., as tail-raiser; tail-chasing, -pulling, -spreading, -switching, -wagging sbs. and adjs.; c. instrumental and locative, as tail-cropped, -decorated, -docked, -joined, -tied adjs.; tail-fisher, -fishing; also tail-like adj.; tail-first, -foremost advbs.
1872. Coues, N. Amer. Birds, 99. *Tail-blotches small or obscure.
1891. Morgan, Anim. Sk., 198. Each successive moult [of the rattlesnake] leaves an additional *tail-cap of dried skin and these constitute the rattle.
1892. Kipling, Cleared, xv. Barrack-r. Ball., 186. The *tail-cropped heifer’s low.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), V. 97. The common eagle … the *tail feathers white, blackening at the ends.
1681. Grew, Musæum, I. V. i. 85. The *Tail-Finn, as it were half a Finn, being 1/2 a foot high.
1835–6. Todd’s Cycl. Anat., I. 562/2. The horizontal position of the tail-fin … distinguishes the cetacean from the fish.
1886. Stevenson, Kidnapped, xviii. 171. Alan’s morals were all *tail-first; but he was ready to give his life for them.
1904. Blackw. Mag., June, 818/2. A spaniel … dragged tail-first upstairs and downstairs by a child.
1865. Tylor, Early Hist. Man., xii. 355. To proceed now to the story of the *Tail-Fisher. Ibid., 357. The curious mythic art of *Tail-fishing.
1847–8. H. Miller, First Impr., v. Her [female lobster’s] dorsal plates curve round from the joint at the carapace till the *tail-flap rests on her breast.
1875. Morris, Æneid, VIII. 210. Which same … *Tail-foremost dragged he to his den.
1902. Daily Chron., 18 Oct., 8/3. Ermine, spotted with the tips of the *tail-fur.
1649. G. Daniel, Trinarch., To Rdr. 172. *Tayle-Ioyn’d foxes hurrying Sylla’s Nose, A Brand to wast the ffeilds.
1835–6. Todd’s Cycl. Anat., I. 208/2. The last segment of the *tail-like abdomen.
1849. D. J. Browne, Amer. Poultry Yd. (1855), 153. A well-developed *tail plumage.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, xiii. The head of the family thrust his hands into the great *tail-pockets of his great blue coat.
1681. Grew, Musæum, I. IV. iii. 75. The two *Tail-Quills of the same [Tropick Bird].
1894. Newton, Dict. Birds, 705. In some [penguins] the tail-quills, which are very numerous, are also long.
1907. Macm. Mag., July, 673. His [a tiger’s] *tail rings were very finely marked.
1872. Coues, N. Amer. Birds, 101. Wing-bars and *tail-spots ordinary.
1891. Morgan, Anim. Sk., 138. The vigorous *tail-strokes … often leave their mark on the smooth surface of the water.
1905. R. Garnett, Shakespeare, 97. *Tail-switching Lucifer, Hell’s emperor.
1690. C. Nesse, O. & N. Test., I. 25. The Son of God … broke the serpents head, and leaves only *tail-temptations for us.
1904. B’ness von Hütten, Pam, 135. If the proverbial worm had not only turned, but risen on its *tail-tip.
1869. Platts, trans. Ikhwanu-s-Safa, 70. If watching, barking, and *tail-wagging are required there, I am the one for it.
14. Special combinations: † tail-band, = CRUPPER sb. 1; tail-bandage, a bandage divided into strips at the end; tail-bay, (a) the space between a girder and the wall: cf. BAY sb.3; (b) in a canal-lock, the narrow water-space just below the lock, opening out into the lower pond: see quot.; tail-beam, a beam that is tailed in, as to a wall; a tail-piece; † tail-bearer, a train-bearer; tail-binder: see quot.; tail-block, (a) Naut.: see quot. 1769; (b) in a sawmill carriage, a support of the log at the end where the cut ends; (c) in a lathe = tail-stock; tail-bond, Building, a stone placed with its greatest length across a wall, serving as a tie to hold the face to the interior; tail-bone, any one of the caudal vertebræ in animals; also applied to the coccyx, when anchylosed into one bone; tail-box: see quot.; † tail-castle, the poop of a ship; tail-coat, a coat with tails; esp. a dress or swallow-tailed coat; hence tail-coated a.; tail-coverts (-covers), sb. pl., Ornith., the feathers that cover the rectrices or quill-feathers of the tail in birds; divided into upper and lower, according to their position on the dorsal or ventral surface; tail-crab (cf. CRAB sb.1 7): see quot.; tail-cut: see CUT sb.2 20 a; tail-dam, Sc., the tail-race of a mill; tail-drain: see quot. 1805; tail-ducat (Ger. Schwanzdukaten), a Prussian gold coin of Frederick William I. (1713–40), worth about 10s. sterling, bearing the king’s head with a queue; tail-dust: see quot.; tail-fan, in macrurous crustacea, the tail-end formed by the sixth pair of pleopods with the telson; tail-flower, a W. Indian araceous plant of the genus Anthurium; from its tail-like spicate inflorescence; tail-fly, Angling, the fly at the end of the leader; a stretcher-fly; tail-gate, (a) the lower gate or pair of gates of a canal-lock; the aft-gate; (b) U.S. local, the tail-board of a wagon or motor-car; tail-grape, a name for the species of Artabotrys, N.O. Anonaceæ, shrubs of tropical Africa and the East Indies; so called from the hook-like form of the flower-stalks, by the aid of which the fruit is suspended; tail-head, the root of an animal’s tail; tail-hook, Angling, the hook of a tail-fly; tail-hounds, the hounds in the tail of a pack; tail-house: see quot.; tail-ill, a name for palsy, supposed to be caused by looseness between the tail-joints; tail-joist, a joist tailed into the wall, a tail-piece; tail-knife: see quot.; tail-lamp, tail-light, the (usually red) light or lights carried at the rear of a train, motor-car, etc.; tail-lobe, either of the two lobes of the caudal fin present in most fishes; tail-lock, a lock at the exit or lower end of a dock; tail-mill = tail-house; tail-muscle, any muscle in the tail of an animal; a caudal or coccygeal muscle; tail-piles: see quot.; tail-pin, † (a) some part of an ancient gun or its carriage; † (b) a pin for the tail of a woman’s gown; (c) the center in the tail-spindle of a lathe; tail-rime = tailed rime (TAILED1 1 d); hence tail-rimed a.; tail-rod, a continuation of the piston-rod, which passes through the back cover of the cylinder, and serves to steady the piston and rod by giving the former a double bearing; tail-rot = tail-ill; tail-screw, in a lathe, the screw that moves the back center tail-spindle to and fro: the tail-piece; tail-seed, the small ill-developed part of a quantity of seed; tail-shaft, in screw steamships, that section of the shaft nearest the propeller; tail-slip = tail-ill; tailsman, rare, a ploughman; tail-soaked a.: see quot.; tail-spindle, the spindle in the tail-stock of a lathe; tail-stern, the tail-piece of a musical instrument; tail-stock DEAD-HEAD 2 b: see quot.; tail-tackle, a handy tackle consisting of a double and a single block, or two double blocks, having the strop of one of the double blocks lengthened as in a tail-block; tail-trimmer, Building: see quot.; tail-twisting, the twisting of a tail or tails; (a) lit. in the fur-trade; (b) in political slang, the act of ‘twisting the lion’s tail’: see LION 2 g; hence tail-twist v., tail-twister; tail-valve, (a) the air-pump valve in some forms of condenser; (b) = SNIFTING-VALVE; tail-van, the last van of a train; tail-vice, a small hand-vice with a tail or handle to hold it by (Webster, 1864); tail-water, the water in a mill-race below the wheel, or in a canal or navigable channel below a lock; tail-worm = tail-ill; tail-worts, a name given by Lindley to plants of the N.O. Triuridaceæ.
1483. Cath. Angl., 377/1. A *Taylbande (A. Taylle bande), caudile, subtela.
1856. S. C. Brees, Gloss. Terms, *Tail bays, a name given to common joists when one end is framed in a girder and the other rests on a wall.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., s.v. Lock, The tail-bay or aft-bay, below the lock-chamber.
1598. Marston, Sco. Villanie, II. v. Codrus my well-fac’t Ladies *taile-bearer (He that … play’th Flauias vsherer).
1828. Craven Gloss., *Tail-binder, a long stone … which rests upon the corner stone,… to bind, or give strength to the wall.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1776), *Tail-block, a small single block, having a short piece of rope attached to it, by which it may be fastened to any object … either for convenience, or to increase the force applied to the said object.
1829. Marryat, F. Mildmay, viii. A tail block was attached to the boom-iron.
1881. Young, Ev. Man his own Mechanic, § 591. The tail-block [of a lathe] has a sliding spindle worked by the screw and wheel.
1776. G. Semple, Building in Water, 141. The Headers, Stretchers and *Tail-bonds.
1548–77. Vicary, Anat., ix. (1888), 74. Three carti’aginis spondels of Ossa caude, called the *tayle bone.
1898. Syd. Soc. Lex., Tail-bone, the coccygeal vertebræ; coccyx, or os coccygis.
1895. Raymond, Smoke of War, 22. The *tail-box—one part of that revolving dome at the head of a stone [wind-] mill by which the sails are brought to face an ever-shifting wind.
1585. Higins, Junius’ Nomenclator, 222/1. Puppis,… la poupe, the hind decke, or *taile castell.
1847. Alb. Smith, Chr. Tadpole, ix. (1879), 86. He was … going to put on a *tail-coat for the first time.
1879. Stevenson, Trav. Cevennes (1895), 16. A tall peasant … arrayed in the green tail-coat of the country.
1889. Hickson, Naturalist, in N. Celebes, 10. The visitor must assume a black tail-coat, a white shirt with a black tie,… and, pro forma, a hat.
1850. Lynch, Theo. Trinal, xi. 211. How he was born, cradled, schooled, *tailcoated, colleged, and the like.
1861. Du Chaillu, Equat. Afr., xvi. 306. Its back, *tail-cover, and very long flowing tail are pure milk-white.
1815. Stephens, in Shaw, Gen. Zool., IX. I. 6. *Tail-coverts grey.
1849. D. J. Browne, Amer. Poultry Yard (1855), 21. The wing coverts on the shoulders, and the tail coverts are dark-greyish.
1883. Gresley, Coal Mining Gloss., *Tail crab, a crab for overhauling and belaying the tail rope in pumping gear.
1791. Rep. Nav. Thames & Isis, 12. A *tail Cut from a Lock on River Navigations should be as short as possible.
1903. Lumsden, Toorle, V. i. 100. His speech rusht out o’ the mou’ o’ him like water out o’ a ‘tail dam.
1805. R. W. Dickson, Pract. Agric., II. 923. *Tail-Drain, the principal ditch which conveys the water out of the meadow.
1842. J. Aiton, Domest. Econ. (1857), 183. Taking the levels, and laying off the main feeders, the floating gutters, the tail drains,… and the main drain to carry away the whole water.
1864. Carlyle, trans. Linsenbarth (1750), in Fredk. Gt., XVI. v. A Secretary came … told down on the table five *Tail-ducats (Schwanz-dukaten), and a Gold Friedrich under them.
1764. Museum Rust., III. lxi. 281. The *tail-dust, which falls through the screen whilst the malt is cleaning before it is put up in sacks,… may be applied to a better use.
1893. Stebbing, Crustacea, xi. 146. Except in the Lithodidæ, that [pair of pleopods] belonging to the sixth segment is always present, this pair with the telson forming the Rhipidura or *tail-fan.
1884. Miller, Plant-n., 161. Anthurium, Banner-plant, Flamingo-plant, *Tail-flower.
1883. Century Mag., XXVI. 378. For a stretcher or *tail-fly.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., s.v. Lock, The head-gate and *tail-gate, which, with the side-walls, inclose the lock-chamber.
1886. E. Eggleston, Graysons, xxiii. 345. The two were picking near together and throwing corn over the tail-gate of the wagon.
1884. Miller, Plant-n., 163. Artabotrys, *Tail-grape.
1704. Lond. Gaz., No. 4018/4. A pretty large white Hound Bitch, with … a Tann’d Spot on her Fore-head, and another on the *Tail-head.
1844. Stephens, Bk. of Farm, II. 164. The first point … handled is the end of the rump at the tail head.
1901. Westmorld. Gaz., 26 Oct., 5/3. Lost, three Ewes and two Lambs,… ewes marked across tail-head.
1888. Goode, Amer. Fishes, 8. Use a *‘tail-hook’ to avoid the risk of losing the minnow without gaining the Perch.
1852. R. S. Surtees, Sponge’s Sp. Tour (1893), 50. The last of the *tail-hounds are flying the fence out of the first field.
1881. Raymond, Mining Gloss., *Tail-house, Tail-mill, the buildings in which tailings are treated.
1824. Mactaggart, Gallovid. Encycl., s.v. Yirb-wives, When a cow takes the *Tailill, or is Elfshot, these females are sent for to cure them.
1846. J. Baxter, Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4), II. 134. This complaint is traced to a most ridiculous cause. The original evil is said to be in the tail; and all maladies of this kind, involving the partial or total loss of motion of the hind limbs of the animal, are classed under the name of tail-ill, or tail-slip.
1667. Primatt, City & C. Build., 80. Observe that the Carpenter doth pin all his *Tayl-Joynts, they being apt to slip.
1820. Scoresby, Acc. Arctic Reg., II. 233. A *‘tail-knife,’… used for perforating the fins or tail of a dead whale.
1891. Cent. Dict., *Tail-lamp.
1908. Westm. Gaz., 17 Nov., 5/2. Side lamps, tail lamp, head-light with separate generator.
1844. Illustr. Lond. News, 14 Dec., 374. Each train … is provided with … red *tail lights.
1903. Westm. Gaz., 28 Jan., 5/1. He did not slow even when the red tail-lights of the standing local train were seen.
1907. J. E. Ewart, in Q. Rev., April, 558. At the base of the long dock there is no vestige of a *tail-lock.
1891. Cent. Dict., *Tail-muscle.
1898. Syd. Soc. Lex., Tail muscle, coccygeus, depressor of the tail.
1837. in Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl., I. 6/1. The component parts of a groin are piles, planking, land-ties,… *tail-piles and keys, and screw-bolts. Ibid., 6/2. The relative proportions of the component parts are, four piles, one land-tie with tail-piles and keys [etc.].
1497. Naval Acc. Hen. VII. (1896), 84. Lymores with boltes forlokkes kayes lynces and a *taile pynne for the said Curtowe.
c. 1540. Heywood, Four P. P., in Hazl., Dodsley, I. 351. The trimming and pinning up their gear; Specially their fiddling with the tail-pin.
1887. Cassell’s Encycl. Dict., Tail-pin, the back-centre pin of a lathe.
1886. Schimirgel, in Sir Beues (E.E.T.S.), App. xlv. Romances with *tail-rhymed stanzas.
1894. Times, 26 June, 12/1. Rods, which pass through the covers of the low-pressure cylinders after the manner of a *tail-rod.
1896. Kipling, Seven Seas, 43. Yon orchestra sublime Whaur-to … the tail-rods mark the time.
1847. W. C. L. Martin, Ox, 139/2. Palsy, or paralysis. This disease … bears among farmers and cow-leeches the ridiculous names of joint-yellows, *tail-rot, tail-ill, or tail-slip.
1786. Young’s Ann. Agric., V. 114 (E.D.D.). *Tail-seed from my seed-mill.
1897. Westm. Gaz., 8 July, 5/2. The *tail-shaft got bent and could not be rectified, consequently the ship became disabled.
1901. Scotsman, 5 March, 7/8. Accidents principally of the kind known as tail-shaft breakages.
1846. *Tail-slip [see tail-ill].
1867. D. G. Mitchell, Rural Stud., 121. Every man who can use a hoe or a pitchfork is supposed to be a competent *tailsman for the plow.
1766. Compl. Farmer, *Tail-soaked, a disease incident to cows, by which the joint of the tail near the rump, will, as it were, rot away.
1864. Webster, *Tail-stock, the sliding block or support, in a lathe, which carries the tail-screw and adjustable center.
1859. F. Griffiths, Artil. Man. (1862), 318. If the moveable block of a tackle be strapped with a tail, it is called a tail, or jigger block: and the tackle a *tail, or jigger tackle.
1823. P. Nicholson, Pract. Build., 594. *Tail-trimmer, a trimmer next to the wall, into which the ends of joists are fastened.
1898. Westm. Gaz., 9 Dec., 7/1. He was … in the hands of clerks and restless explorers who longed to *tail-twist and otherwise annoy.
1889. Edwardes, Sardinia, 375. A terrible amount of *tail-twisting, kicking and anathematization.
1896. Westm. Gaz., 4 Nov., 1/3. If the temper of the British lion is at all affected by the tail-twisting process, he must be in a rage just now and roaring loudly. Tail-twisting seems to be the principal employment of the New York Bryanites.
1903. Daily Chron., 13 May, 10/6. Fur Trade.—Girls wanted, used to boa and tail twisting.
1839. R. S. Robinson, Naut. Steam Eng., 131. It will have to pass through the blow-through, or *tail valve.
1885. C. G. W. Lock, Workshop Receipts, Ser. IV. 99/2. It is usual to fix an extra valve, called a ‘tail’ valve, to prevent the water from running out of the pipe when not in use.
1759. Smeaton, in Phil. Trans., LI. 138. An overshot [wheel], whose height is equal to the difference of level, between the point where it strikes the wheel and the level of the *tail-water.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 103. When the water in the mill-tail will not run off freely, but stands pent up in the wheel-race, so that the wheel must work or row in it, the wheel is said to be tailed, or to be in back-water or tail-water.
1905. Westm. Gaz., 17 March, 9/1. At Molesey Lock the tail water was almost five feet above the summer level.
1811. G. S. Keith, Agric. Surv. Aberdeen, 491. The *tail-worm is also cured by cutting off a few inches of the tail, which bleeds pretty freely.
1816. Towne, Farmer & Grazier’s Guide, 67. Tail Worm. In that Part of the Tail which is affected … the Spine appears deprived of Sensibility.
1846. Lindley, Veg. Kingd., 213. Triuridaceæ. *Tailworts.
