subs. phr. (common).—A dress-coat; a SWALLOW-TAIL, CLAWHAMMER (q.v.).
1888. EGGLESTON, The Graysons, xxvi. The lawyers in their blue SPARROW-TAIL coats, with brass buttons, which constituted then [c. 1840] a kind of professional uniform.
subs. phr. (common).—A dress-coat; a SWALLOW-TAIL, CLAWHAMMER (q.v.).
1888. EGGLESTON, The Graysons, xxvi. The lawyers in their blue SPARROW-TAIL coats, with brass buttons, which constituted then [c. 1840] a kind of professional uniform.
