tail

tail 1 S2 W3 / teɪl / 名词 [可数名词]

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 [通常单数形式] 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) [复数形式] a man’s jacket which is short at the front and divides into two long pieces at the back, worn to very formal events 同义词 tailcoat

b) [不可数名词] spoken said when you are toss ing a coin (= throwing it up in the air to decide which of two things you will do or choose ) 反义词 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

COLLOCATIONS

形容词

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.

动词

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 + NOUN

tail feathers The bird’s wings and tail feathers were a beautiful purple color.

COMMON ERRORS

► Do not say ’ wave its tail ’ or ’ shake its tail ‘. Say wag its tail .