Tail

n. [A-S. tægel, tægl, Icel. tagl, L. Ger. & Sw. tagel, O. H. Ger. zagil, zagal, M. H. Ger. & O. Ger. zagel, from Goth. tagl, hair.] 1. Any long, flexible, terminal appendage; the part of an animal which terminates its body behind. ☞ In many quadrupeds, the tail is a shoot or projection covered with hair, hanging loose from the extremity of the vertebræ. In birds, the tail consists of feathers, or is covered with them, which serve to assist in the direction of their flight. In fishes, the tail is formed usually by a gradual sloping of the body, ending in a fin. 2. Hence, the back, lower, or inferior part of any thing. The Lord will make thee the head, and not the tail. Deut. xxviii. 13.

3. The side of a coin opposite to that which bears the head or effigy;—rarely used except in the expression “heads or tails,” employed when a coin is thrown up for the purpose of deciding some point by its fall.
4. Whatever resembles, in shape or position, the tail of an animal, as a catkin. “Duretus writes a great praise of the distilled waters of those tails that hang on willow-trees.” Harvey.
5. A train or company of attendants.

“Ah,” said he, “if you saw but the chief with his tail on.” W. Scott.

6. (Anat.) That tendon of a muscle which is fixed to the movable part.
7. (Bot.) (a.) A downy or feathery appendage to certain seeds, formed of the permanent elongated style. (b.) Any elongated, flexible, terminal part, as a petiole or peduncle. Henslow.
8. (Surg.) A portion of an incision, at its beginning or end, which does not go through the whole thickness of the skin, and is more painful than a complete incision;—called also tailing.
9. (Naut.) A strap connected with a block, by which it may be secured to a rope, spar, &c. Totten.
10. (Mus.) The part of a note which runs perpendicularly upward or downward from the head; the stem. Moore.
11. (pl.) The same as TAILING, 4.
12. (Arch.) The bottom or lower part of a member or part, as a slate or tile. Brande.

Horse-tail, the tail of a horse mounted on a staff, and used as a standard or insignia of rank and honor among some Asiatic nations.—Tail of a comet (Astron.), a luminous train extending from the nucleus or body often to a great distance, and usually in a direction opposite to the sun.—Tail of a gale (Naut.), the latter part of it, when the wind has greatly abated. Totten.—Tail of a lock, on a canal, the lower end, or entrance into the lower pond.—Tail of the trenches (Fort.), the post where the besiegers begin to break ground, and cover themselves from the fire of the place, in advancing the lines of approach. Mil. Encyc.—To turn tail, to run away; to flee. “Would she turn tail to the heron, and fly quite out another way; but all was to return in a higher pitch.” Sidney.