tail
tail [tail tails tailed tailing] noun, verb BrE [teɪl] NAmE [teɪl]
noun
OF BIRD/ANIMAL/FISH
1. countable the part that sticks out and can be moved at the back of the body of a bird, an animal or a fish
• The dog ran up, wagging its tail.
• The male has beautiful tail feathers.
see also ↑ponytail
-TAILED
2. (in adjectives)having the type of tail mentioned
•a white-tailed eagle
OF PLANE/SPACECRAFT
3. countable the back part of a plane, ↑spacecraft, etc
•the tail wing 
BACK/END OF STH
4. countable ~ (of sth) a part of sth that sticks out at the back like a tail
•the tail of a kite
5. countable ~ (of sth) the last part of sth that is moving away from you
•the tail of the procession
see also ↑tail end
JACKET
6. tailsplural (also tail·coat countable)a long jacket divided at the back below the waist into two pieces that become narrower at the bottom, worn by men at very formal events
•The men all wore top hat and tails.
see also ↑coat-tails, ↑shirt tail
compare ↑dinner jacket, ↑morning coat
SIDE OF COIN
7. tailsuncountable the side of a coin that does not have a picture of the head of a person on it, used as one choice when a coin is tossed to decide sth
compare ↑heads n. (5)
PERSON WHO FOLLOWS SB
8. countable (informal)a person who is sent to follow sb secretly and find out information about where that person goes, what they do, etc
•The police have put a tail on him.
more at bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at ↑bright-eyed, chase your own tail at ↑chase v., can't make head nor tail of sthheads or tails? at ↑head n., nose to tail at ↑nose n., a sting in the tail at ↑sting n.
Word Origin:
Old English tæg(e)l, from a Germanic base meaning ‘hair, hairy tail’; related to Middle Low German tagel ‘twisted whip, rope's end’. The early sense of the verb (early 16th cent.) was ‘fasten to the back of something’.
Example Bank:
•It was black from its nose to the tip of its tail.
•My dog loves to chase his tail.
•The dog ran out with its tail wagging madly.
•The dog wagged its tail furiously.
•The plane's tail section had broken off.
•Traffic which used to be nose to tail now flows freely.
•the truck at the tail of our convoy
Idioms: ↑on somebody's tail ▪ ↑tail wagging the dog ▪ ↑turn tail ▪ ↑with your tail between your legs
Derived Word: ↑tailless
Derived: ↑tail back ▪ ↑tail off
verb ~ sb
to follow sb closely, especially in order to watch where they go and what they do
Syn: ↑shadow
• A private detective had been tailing them for several weeks.
see top and tail sth at ↑top v.
Verb forms: 
Word Origin:
Old English tæg(e)l, from a Germanic base meaning ‘hair, hairy tail’; related to Middle Low German tagel ‘twisted whip, rope's end’. The early sense of the verb (early 16th cent.) was ‘fasten to the back of something’.
Example Bank:
•She was closely tailed by a detective.
•They decided to let him go and then tail him.
See also: ↑tailcoat
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