[teɪl], (Noun)

Definitions:
- the hindmost part of an animal, especially when prolonged beyond the rest of the body, such as the flexible extension of the backbone in a vertebrate, the feathers at the hind end of a bird, or a terminal appendage in an insect
(e.g: the dog's tail began to wag frantically)

- a thing resembling an animal's tail in its shape or position, typically extending downwards or outwards at the end of something
(e.g: the tail of a capital Q)

- the end of a long train or line of people or vehicles
(e.g: a catering truck at the tail of the convoy)

- a person secretly following another to observe their movements
(e.g: I can't put a tail on him, I don't know where he's gone)

- a person's buttocks
(e.g: the coach kicked Ryan in his tail)

- the side of a coin without the image of a head on it (used when tossing a coin to determine a winner)
(e.g: the chances of heads and tails in the long run are equal)


Phrases:
- chase one's tail
- on someone's tail
- the tail of one's eye
- the tail wags the dog
- with one's tail between one's legs
- with one's tail up

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 century) was ‘fasten to the back of something’

[teɪl], (Verb)

Definitions:
- follow and observe (someone) closely, especially in secret
(e.g: a flock of paparazzi had tailed them all over London)

- provide with a tail
(e.g: her calligraphy was topped by banners of black ink and tailed like the haunches of fabulous beasts)

- (of an object in flight) drift or curve in a particular direction
(e.g: the next pitch tailed in on me at the last second)

- remove the stalks or ends of (fruit or vegetables) in preparation for cooking

- pull on the end of (a rope) after it has been wrapped round the drum of a winch a few times, in order to prevent slipping when the winch rotates

- join (one thing) to another


Phrases:
- chase one's tail
- on someone's tail
- the tail of one's eye
- the tail wags the dog
- with one's tail between one's legs
- with one's tail up

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 century) was ‘fasten to the back of something’

[teɪl], (Noun)

Definitions:
- limitation of ownership, especially of an estate or title limited to a person and their direct descendants
(e.g: the land was held in tail general)


Phrases:

Origin:
Middle English (denoting a tallage): from Old French taille ‘notch, tax’, from taillier ‘to cut’, based on Latin talea ‘twig, cutting’