Tail vs. Plume

Tailnoun

(anatomy) The caudal appendage of an animal that is attached to its posterior and near the anus.

‘Most primates have a tail and fangs.’;

Plumenoun

A feather of a bird, especially a large or showy one.

Tailnoun

An object or part of an object resembling a tail in shape, such as the thongs on a cat-o'-nine-tails.

Plumenoun

The furry tail of certain dog breeds (e.g. Samoyed, Malteagle) that stands erect or curls over their backs.

Tailnoun

The back, last, lower, or inferior part of anything.

Plumenoun

A cluster of feathers worn as an ornament, especially on a helmet.

Tailnoun

The feathers attached to the pygostyle of a bird.

Plumenoun

A token of honour or prowess; that on which one prides oneself; a prize or reward.

Tailnoun

The tail-end of an object, e.g. the rear of an aircraft's fuselage, containing the tailfin.

Plumenoun

An area over which (or a space into which) a dispersed substance has spread or fanned out; a cloud.

‘After the explosion, a plume of smoke could be seen in the sky for miles around.’;

Tailnoun

The rear structure of an aircraft, the empennage.

Plumenoun

An upward spray of water or mist.

Tailnoun

(astronomy) The visible stream of dust and gases blown from a comet by the solar wind.

Plumenoun

(geology) An upwelling of molten material from the Earth's mantle.

Tailnoun

The latter part of a time period or event, or (collectively) persons or objects represented in this part.

Plumenoun

(astronomy) An arc of glowing material erupting from the surface of a star.

Tailnoun

(statistics) The part of a distribution most distant from the mode; as, a long tail.

Plumenoun

A large and flexible panicle of inflorescence resembling a feather, such as is seen in certain large ornamental grasses.

Tailnoun

One who surreptitiously follows another.

Plumeverb

(transitive) To preen and arrange the feathers of.

Tailnoun

(cricket) The last four or five batsmen in the batting order, usually specialist bowlers.

Plumeverb

(transitive) To congratulate (oneself) proudly.

‘He plumes himself on his skill.’;

Tailnoun

(typography) The lower loop of the letters in the Roman alphabet, as in g, q or y.

Plumeverb

To strip of feathers; to pluck; to strip; to pillage; also, to peel.

Tailnoun

The side of a coin not bearing the head; normally the side on which the monetary value of the coin is indicated; the reverse.

Plumeverb

To adorn with feathers or plumes.

Tailnoun

(mathematics) All the last terms of a sequence, from some term on.

‘A sequence $(a\_n)$ is said to be frequently $0$ if every tail of the sequence contains $0$.’;

Plumeverb

To form a plume.

‘Smoke plumed from his pipe then slowly settled towards the floor.’;

Tailnoun

The buttocks or backside.

Plumeverb

To write; to pen.

Tailnoun

(slang) The penis of a person or animal.

Plumenoun

A feather; esp., a soft, downy feather, or a long, conspicuous, or handsome feather.

‘Wings . . . of many a colored plume.’;

Tailnoun

Sexual intercourse.

‘I'm gonna get me some tail tonight.’;

Plumenoun

An ornamental tuft of feathers.

Tailnoun

(kayaking) The stern; the back of the kayak.

Plumenoun

A feather, or group of feathers, worn as an ornament; a waving ornament of hair, or other material resembling feathers.

‘His high plume, that nodded o'er his head.’;

Tailnoun

A train or company of attendants; a retinue.

Plumenoun

A token of honor or prowess; that on which one prides himself; a prize or reward.

Tailnoun

(anatomy) The distal tendon of a muscle.

Plumenoun

A large and flexible panicle of inflorescence resembling a feather, such as is seen in certain large ornamental grasses.

Tailnoun

(entomology) A filamentous projection on the tornal section of each hind wing of certain butterflies.

Plumeverb

To pick and adjust the plumes or feathers of; to dress or prink.

‘Pluming her wings among the breezy bowers.’;

Tailnoun

A downy or feathery appendage of certain achens, formed of the permanent elongated style.

Plumeverb

To strip of feathers; to pluck; to strip; to pillage; also, to peel.

Tailnoun

(surgery) 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.

Plumeverb

To adorn with feathers or plumes.

Tailnoun

One of the strips at the end of a bandage formed by splitting the bandage one or more times.

Plumeverb

To pride; to vaunt; to boast; - used reflexively; as, he plumes himself on his skill.

Tailnoun

(nautical) A rope spliced to the strap of a block, by which it may be lashed to anything.

Plumenoun

a feather or cluster of feathers worn as an ornament

Tailnoun

(music) The part of a note which runs perpendicularly upward or downward from the head; the stem.

Plumenoun

the light horny waterproof structure forming the external covering of birds

Tailnoun

(mining) A tailing.

Plumeverb

rip off; ask an unreasonable price

Tailnoun

(architecture) The bottom or lower portion of a member or part such as a slate or tile.

Plumeverb

be proud of;

‘He prides himself on making it into law school’;

Tailnoun

A tailcoat.

Plumeverb

deck with a plume;

‘a plumed helmet’;

Tailnoun

(legal) Limitation of inheritance to certain heirs.

‘tail male — limitation to male heirs’; ‘in tail — subject to such a limitation’;

Plumeverb

clean with one's bill;

‘The birds preened’;

Tailverb

(transitive) To follow and observe surreptitiously.

‘Tail that car!’;

Plumeverb

form a plume;

‘The chimneys were pluming the sky’; ‘The engine was pluming black smoke’;

Tailverb

(architecture) To hold by the end; said of a timber when it rests upon a wall or other support; with in or into

Plumeverb

dress or groom with elaborate care;

‘She likes to dress when going to the opera’;

Tailverb

(nautical) To swing with the stern in a certain direction; said of a vessel at anchor.

‘This vessel tails downstream.’;

Tailverb

To follow or hang to, like a tail; to be attached closely to, as that which can not be evaded.

Tailverb

To pull or draw by the tail.

Tailadjective

(legal) Limited; abridged; reduced; curtailed.

‘estate tail’;

Tailnoun

Limitation; abridgment.

Tailnoun

The terminal, and usually flexible, posterior appendage of an animal.

Tailnoun

Any long, flexible terminal appendage; whatever resembles, in shape or position, the tail of an animal, as a catkin.

‘Doretus writes a great praise of the distilled waters of those tails that hang on willow trees.’;

Tailnoun

Hence, the back, last, lower, or inferior part of anything, - as opposed to the head, or the superior part.

‘The Lord will make thee the head, and not the tail.’;

Tailnoun

A train or company of attendants; a retinue.

‘"Ah," said he, "if you saw but the chief with his tail on."’;

Tailnoun

The side of a coin opposite to that which bears the head, effigy, or date; the reverse; - 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.

Tailnoun

The distal tendon of a muscle.

Tailnoun

A downy or feathery appendage to certain achenes. It is formed of the permanent elongated style.

Tailnoun

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.

Tailnoun

A rope spliced to the strap of a block, by which it may be lashed to anything.

Tailnoun

The part of a note which runs perpendicularly upward or downward from the head; the stem.

Tailnoun

Same as Tailing, 4.

Tailnoun

The bottom or lower portion of a member or part, as a slate or tile.

Tailnoun

See Tailing, n., 5.

Tailnoun

the long visible stream of gases, ions, or dust particles extending from the head of a comet in the direction opposite to the sun.

Tailnoun

In some forms of rope-laying machine, pieces of rope attached to the iron bar passing through the grooven wooden top containing the strands, for wrapping around the rope to be laid.

Tailnoun

A tailed coat; a tail coat.

Tailnoun

In airplanes, an airfoil or group of airfoils used at the rear to confer stability.

Tailnoun

the buttocks.

Tailnoun

sexual intercourse, or a woman used for sexual intercourse; as, to get some tail; to find a piece of tail. See also tailing{3}.

‘Would she turn tail to the heron, and fly quite out another way; but all was to return in a higher pitch.’;

Tailadjective

Limited; abridged; reduced; curtailed; as, estate tail.

Tailverb

To follow or hang to, like a tail; to be attached closely to, as that which can not be evaded.

‘Nevertheless his bond of two thousand pounds, wherewith he was tailed, continued uncanceled, and was called on the next Parliament.’;

Tailverb

To pull or draw by the tail.

Tailverb

To hold by the end; - said of a timber when it rests upon a wall or other support; - with in or into.

Tailverb

To swing with the stern in a certain direction; - said of a vessel at anchor; as, this vessel tails down stream.

Tailnoun

the posterior part of the body of a vertebrate especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body

Tailnoun

the time of the last part of something;

‘the fag end of this crisis-ridden century’; ‘the tail of the storm’;

Tailnoun

any projection that resembles the tail of an animal

Tailnoun

the fleshy part of the human body that you sit on;

‘he deserves a good kick in the butt’; ‘are you going to sit on your fanny and do nothing?’;

Tailnoun

a spy employed to follow someone and report their movements

Tailnoun

(usually plural) the reverse side of a coin that does not bear the representation of a person's head

Tailnoun

the rear part of an aircraft

Tailnoun

the rear part of a ship

Tailverb

go after with the intent to catch;

‘The policeman chased the mugger down the alley’; ‘the dog chased the rabbit’;

Tailverb

remove or shorten the tail of an animal

Tailverb

remove the stalk of fruits or berries

Tailnoun

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

‘the dog's tail began to wag frantically’;

Tailnoun

a slender backward prolongation of each hindwing in some butterflies.

Tailnoun

a thing resembling an animal's tail in its shape or position, typically extending downwards or outwards at the end of something

‘the tail of a capital Q’;

Tailnoun

the rear part of an aeroplane, with the tailplane and rudder

‘the fuselage tapers sharply towards the tail’;

Tailnoun

the lower or hanging part of a garment, especially the back of a shirt or coat

‘he stormed off, the tails of his jacket flapping behind him’; ‘he wiped his hands on the tail of his grubby vest’;

Tailnoun

a tailcoat, or a man's formal evening suit with a tailcoat

‘the men looked debonair in white tie and tails’;

Tailnoun

the luminous trail of particles following a comet.

Tailnoun

the lower end of a pool or stream

‘shallow riffles and the tails of pools are prime feeding areas’;

Tailnoun

the exposed end of a slate or tile in a roof

‘the slates are dressed with the bevelled tail and edge characteristic of thick, square stone roofing’;

Tailnoun

an extremity of a curve approaching the horizontal axis of a graph, especially that of a frequency distribution.

Tailnoun

the end of a long train or line of people or vehicles

‘a catering truck at the tail of the convoy’;

Tailnoun

the final, more distant, or weaker part of something

‘the tail of a hurricane’;

Tailnoun

the end of the batting order, with the weakest batsmen

‘McDermott worked his way through the tail, finishing with ten wickets’;

Tailnoun

a person secretly following another to observe their movements

‘I can't put a tail on him, I don't know where he's gone’;

Tailnoun

a person's buttocks

‘the coach kicked Ryan in his tail’;

Tailnoun

a woman's genitals.

Tailnoun

women collectively regarded in sexual terms

‘I was getting worried that both of us would be chasing tail and getting into trouble for the rest of our lives’;

Tailnoun

the side of a coin without the image of a head on it (used when tossing a coin to determine a winner)

‘the chances of heads and tails in the long run are equal’;

Tailnoun

limitation of ownership, especially of an estate or title limited to a person and their direct descendants

‘the land was held in tail general’;

Tailverb

follow and observe (someone) closely, especially in secret

‘a flock of paparazzi had tailed them all over London’;

Tailverb

follow

‘they went to their favourite cafe—Owen and Sally tailed along’;

Tailverb

(of an object in flight) drift or curve in a particular direction

‘the next pitch tailed in on me at the last second’;

Tailverb

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

Tailverb

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.

Tailverb

join (one thing) to another.

Tailverb

provide with a tail

‘her calligraphy was topped by banners of black ink and tailed like the haunches of fabulous beasts’;

Tail

The tail is the section at the rear end of certain kinds of animals’ bodies; in general, the term refers to a distinct, flexible appendage to the torso. It is the part of the body that corresponds roughly to the sacrum and coccyx in mammals, reptiles, and birds.