tail
[noun]
Synonyms:
- extremity, appendage, end, rear end, tailpiece
- turn tail: run away, cut and run, flee, retreat, run off, take to one's heels
[verb]
Synonyms:
- follow, shadow, stalk, track, trail

---

Related Words: hound, pursue

---

English Thesaurus: follow, chase, run after somebody/go after somebody, stalk, pursue, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. tail¹ S2 W3 /teɪl/ noun [countable]
[Language: Old English; Origin: tægel]

1. ANIMAL the part that sticks out at the back of an animal’s body, and that it can move:
The dog wagged its tail.
white-tailed/long-tailed etc
a white-tailed eagle

2.
AIRCRAFT the back part of an aircraft

3. SHIRT the bottom part of your shirt at the back, that you put inside your trousers

4. BACK PART [usually singular] the back or last part of something, especially something that is moving away from you:
We saw the tail of the procession disappearing round the corner.

5. tails
a) [plural] a man’s jacket which is short at the front and divides into two long pieces at the back, worn to very formal events Synonym : tailcoat
b) [uncountable] spoken said when you are tossing a coin (=throwing it up in the air to decide which of two things you will do or choose) Antonym : heads

6. the tail end of something the last part of an event, situation, or period of time

7. be on sb’s tail informal to be following someone closely

8. FOLLOW informal someone who is employed to watch and follow someone, especially a criminal
put a tail on somebody (=order someone to follow another person)

9. turn tail informal to run away because you are too frightened to fight or attack

10. with your tail between your legs embarrassed or unhappy because you have failed or been defeated

11. it’s (a case of) the tail wagging the dog informal used to say that an unimportant thing is wrongly controlling a situation

12. chase tail American English informal to try to get a woman to have sex with you

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. tail² verb [transitive]
informal to follow someone and watch what they do, where they go etc:
The police have been tailing him for several months.
tail away phrasal verb British English
to tail off
tail back phrasal verb
British English if traffic tails back, a long line of cars forms, for example because the road is blocked
tail off (also tail away British English) phrasal verb

1. to become gradually less, smaller etc, and often stop or disappear completely:
Profits tailed off towards the end of the year.

2. written if someone’s voice tails off, it becomes quieter and then stops:
‘I didn’t mean ...’ Her voice tailed off in embarrassment.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

tail
noun
I. of an animal, a bird, etc.
ADJ. long | short | bushy, curly, curved, forked, pointed | muscular, prehensile
VERB + TAIL flick, swish, thrash, wag, whisk The dog wagged its tail furiously.
dock It used to be fashionable to dock horses' tails.
TAIL + VERB twitch, wag, wave The dog ran out with its tail wagging madly.
TAIL + NOUN feathers, fin

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

tail
II. of a thing
TAIL + NOUN section The plane's tail section had broken off.
fin, light
PREP. at the ~ the truck at the tail of our convoy
PHRASES nose to tail Traffic which used to be nose to tail now flows freely.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

tail

long
Some dinosaurs had long necks and equally long tails.
short
Its tail is short and pointed.
bushy (=with long thick fur)
My cat has a soft bushy tail.
a prehensile tail technical (=able to hold things)
Many monkeys have prehensile tails.
a dog wags its tail/its tail wags
Domino rushed to meet her, tail wagging with excitement.
a cow/cat etc swishes its tail (=quickly moves it from side to side)
The cow wandered off, swishing her tail.
tail feathers
The bird’s wings and tail feathers were a beautiful purple color.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

follow to walk, drive etc behind or after someone, for example in order to see where they are going:
The man had followed her home to find out where she lived.
Follow that car!
He hired a detective to follow her.
chase to quickly run or drive after someone or something in order to catch them when they are trying to escape:
Police chased the car along the motorway at speeds of up to 90 mph.
run after somebody/go after somebody to quickly follow someone or something in order to stop them or talk to them:
I ran after him to say sorry, but he’d already got on the bus.
stalk /stɔːk $ stɒːk/ to secretly follow an animal in order to kill it, or to secretly follow a person in order to attack them:
a tiger stalking its prey
He had a long history of stalking women in his neighbourhood.
pursue /pəˈsjuː $ pərˈsuː/ written to chase someone in a very determined way:
The ship was being pursued by enemy submarines.
give chase written to chase someone or something who is trying to escape from you:
One of the officers gave chase and arrested the man.
The calf ran away and the lion gave chase.
tail to secretly follow someone in order to watch what they do and where they go:
Apparently, the police had been tailing the terrorists for months.
track to follow and find a person or animal by looking at the marks they leave on the ground:
The bushmen were tracking antelope in the Kalahari desert.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

tail
̈ɪteɪl
{v. phr.} To stop bothering and constantly checking up on someone; quit hounding one.
"Get off my case!" he cried angrily. "You're worse than the cops."/ Contrast: ON ONE'S CASE.
See: COW'S TAIL, HEADS I WIN, TAILS YOU LOSE, MAKE HEAD OR TAIL OF, TURN TAIL.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲