Tail vs. Tale — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Tail and Tale
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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.
Tale
A fictitious or true narrative or story, especially one that is imaginatively recounted
She enjoyed hearing others tell their tales
A delightful children's tale
Tales of witches and warlocks
Tail
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
Tale
A number or total
An exact tale of the dead bodies
Tail
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
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Tale
A recital of events or happenings; a report or revelation
Told us a long tale of woe.
Tail
The end of a long train or line of people or vehicles
A catering truck at the tail of the convoy
Tale
A malicious story, piece of gossip, or petty complaint.
Tail
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
Tale
A deliberate lie; a falsehood.
Tail
A person's buttocks
The coach kicked Ryan in his tail
Tale
A narrative of real or imaginary events; a story.
Tail
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
Tale
(Archaic) A tally or reckoning; a total.
Tail
Limitation of ownership, especially of an estate or title limited to a person and their direct descendants
The land was held in tail general
Tale
An account of an asserted fact or circumstance; a rumour; a report, especially an idle or malicious story; a piece of gossip or slander; a lie.
Don't tell tales!
Tail
Follow and observe (someone) closely, especially in secret
A flock of paparazzi had tailed them all over London
Tale
A rehearsal of what has occurred; narrative; discourse; statement; history; story.
The Canterbury Tales
Tail
(of an object in flight) drift or curve in a particular direction
The next pitch tailed in on me at the last second
Tale
A number told or counted off; a reckoning by count; an enumeration.
Tail
Remove the stalks or ends of (fruit or vegetables) in preparation for cooking.
Tale
(slang) The fraudulent opportunity presented by a confidence man to the mark or victim.
Tail
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.
Tale
(obsolete) Number; tally; quota.
Tail
Join (one thing) to another.
Tale
(obsolete) Account; estimation; regard; heed.
Tail
Provide with a tail
Her calligraphy was topped by banners of black ink and tailed like the haunches of fabulous beasts
Tale
(obsolete) Speech; language.
Tail
The posterior part of an animal, especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body.
Tale
(obsolete) A speech; a statement; talk; conversation; discourse.
Tail
The lowest part of a garment such as a shirt or coat.
Tale
A count; declaration.
Tail
The rear end of an automobile or other vehicle.
Tale
A number of things considered as an aggregate; sum.
Tail
The rear portion of the fuselage of an aircraft or the assembly of stabilizing planes and control surfaces in this portion.
Tale
A report of any matter; a relation; a version.
Tail
The vaned rear portion of a bomb or missile.
Tale
To speak; discourse; tell tales.
Tail
A long thin part on some kites that hangs down below the part that catches the wind to provide stability.
Tale
To reckon; consider (someone) to have something.
Tail
The long stream of gas and dust that is illuminated and directed away from the head of a comet when it is close to the sun.
Tale
See Tael.
Tail
A braid of hair; a pigtail.
Tale
That which is told; an oral relation or recital; any rehearsal of what has occured; narrative; discourse; statement; history; story.
We spend our years as a tale that is told.
Tail
A train of followers; a retinue.
Tale
A number told or counted off; a reckoning by count; an enumeration; a count, in distinction from measure or weight; a number reckoned or stated.
The ignorant, . . . who measure by tale, and not by weight.
And every shepherd tells his tale,Under the hawthornn in the dale.
In packing, they keep a just tale of the number.
Tail
The end of a line of persons or things.
Tale
A count or declaration.
Therefore little tale hath he toldOf any dream, so holy was his heart.
Tail
The short closing line of certain stanzas of verse.
Tale
To tell stories.
Tail
The refuse or dross remaining from processes such as distilling or milling.
Tale
A message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program;
His narrative was interesting
Disney's stories entertain adults as well as children
Tail
A formal evening costume typically worn by men.
Tale
A trivial lie;
He told a fib about eating his spinach
How can I stop my child from telling stories?
Tail
A tailcoat.
Tail
Often tails (used with a sing. verb) The side of a coin not having the principal design.
Tail
The trail of a person or animal in flight
The police were on the bank robber's tail.
Tail
A person assigned or employed to follow and report on someone else's movements and actions
The police put a tail on the suspected drug dealer.
Tail
(Slang) The buttocks.
Tail
Vulgar Slang Sexual intercourse.
Tail
Offensive Slang Women considered as sexual partners.
Tail
Limitation of the inheritance of an estate to a particular person and that person's heirs.
Tail
Of or relating to a tail or tails
Tail feathers.
Tail
Situated in the tail, as of an airplane
A tail gunner.
Tail
Being in tail
A tail estate.
Tail
To provide with a tail
Tail a kite.
Tail
To deprive of a tail; dock.
Tail
To serve as the tail or last part of
The Santa Claus float tailed the parade.
Tail
To connect (often dissimilar or incongruous objects) by the tail or end
Tail two ideas together.
Tail
To set one end of (a beam, board, or brick) into a wall.
Tail
(Informal) To follow and keep (a person) under surveillance.
Tail
To become lengthened or spaced when moving in a line
The patrol tailed out in pairs.
Tail
To be inserted at one end into a wall, as a floor timber or beam.
Tail
(Informal) To follow
Tailed after the leader.
Tail
To go aground with the stern foremost.
Tail
To lie or swing with the stern in a named direction, as when riding at anchor or on a mooring.
Tail
(Sports) To veer from a straight course in the direction of the dominant hand of the player propelling the ball
A pitch that tails away from the batter.
Tail
(anatomy) The caudal appendage of an animal that is attached to its posterior and near the anus.
Most primates have a tail and fangs.
Tail
An object or part of an object resembling a tail in shape, such as the thongs on a cat-o'-nine-tails.
Tail
The back, last, lower, or inferior part of anything.
Tail
The feathers attached to the pygostyle of a bird.
Tail
The tail-end of an object, e.g. the rear of an aircraft's fuselage, containing the tailfin.
Tail
The rear structure of an aircraft, the empennage.
Tail
(astronomy) The visible stream of dust and gases blown from a comet by the solar wind.
Tail
The latter part of a time period or event, or (collectively) persons or objects represented in this part.
Tail
(statistics) The part of a distribution most distant from the mode; as, a long tail.
Tail
One who surreptitiously follows another.
Tail
(cricket) The lower order of batsmen in the batting order, usually specialist bowlers.
Tail
(typography) The lower loop of the letters in the Roman alphabet, as in g, q or y.
Tail
The side of a coin not bearing the head; normally the side on which the monetary value of the coin is indicated; the reverse.
Tail
(mathematics) All the last terms of a sequence, from some term on.
A sequence is said to be frequently if every tail of the sequence contains .
Tail
The buttocks or backside.
Tail
(slang) The penis of a person or animal.
Tail
Sexual intercourse.
I'm gonna get me some tail tonight.
Tail
(kayaking) The stern; the back of the kayak.
Tail
A train or company of attendants; a retinue.
Tail
(anatomy) The distal tendon of a muscle.
Tail
(entomology) A filamentous projection on the tornal section of each hind wing of certain butterflies.
Tail
A downy or feathery appendage of certain achens, formed of the permanent elongated style.
Tail
(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.
Tail
One of the strips at the end of a bandage formed by splitting the bandage one or more times.
Tail
(nautical) A rope spliced to the strap of a block, by which it may be lashed to anything.
Tail
(music) The part of a note which runs perpendicularly upward or downward from the head; the stem.
Tail
(mining) A tailing.
Tail
(architecture) The bottom or lower portion of a member or part such as a slate or tile.
Tail
A tailcoat.
Tail
(electrical engineering) pigtail
Tail
(legal) Limitation of inheritance to certain heirs.
Tail male — limitation to male heirs
In tail — subject to such a limitation
Tail
(transitive) To follow and observe surreptitiously.
Tail that car!
Tail
(architecture) To hold by the end; said of a timber when it rests upon a wall or other support; with in or into
Tail
(nautical) To swing with the stern in a certain direction; said of a vessel at anchor.
This vessel tails downstream.
Tail
To follow or hang to, like a tail; to be attached closely to, as that which can not be evaded.
Tail
To pull or draw by the tail.
Tail
(legal) Limited; abridged; reduced; curtailed.
Estate tail
Tail
Limitation; abridgment.
Tail
The terminal, and usually flexible, posterior appendage of an animal.
Tail
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.
Tail
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.
Tail
A train or company of attendants; a retinue.
"Ah," said he, "if you saw but the chief with his tail on."
Tail
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.
Tail
The distal tendon of a muscle.
Tail
A downy or feathery appendage to certain achenes. It is formed of the permanent elongated style.
Tail
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.
Tail
A rope spliced to the strap of a block, by which it may be lashed to anything.
Tail
The part of a note which runs perpendicularly upward or downward from the head; the stem.
Tail
Same as Tailing, 4.
Tail
The bottom or lower portion of a member or part, as a slate or tile.
Tail
The long visible stream of gases, ions, or dust particles extending from the head of a comet in the direction opposite to the sun.
Tail
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.
Tail
A tailed coat; a tail coat.
Tail
In airplanes, an airfoil or group of airfoils used at the rear to confer stability.
Tail
The buttocks.
Tail
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.
Tail
Limited; abridged; reduced; curtailed; as, estate tail.
Tail
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.
Tail
To pull or draw by the tail.
Tail
To hold by the end; - said of a timber when it rests upon a wall or other support; - with in or into.
Tail
To swing with the stern in a certain direction; - said of a vessel at anchor; as, this vessel tails down stream.
Tail
The posterior part of the body of a vertebrate especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body
Tail
The time of the last part of something;
The fag end of this crisis-ridden century
The tail of the storm
Tail
Any projection that resembles the tail of an animal
Tail
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?
Tail
A spy employed to follow someone and report their movements
Tail
(usually plural) the reverse side of a coin that does not bear the representation of a person's head
Tail
The rear part of an aircraft
Tail
The rear part of a ship
Tail
Go after with the intent to catch;
The policeman chased the mugger down the alley
The dog chased the rabbit
Tail
Remove or shorten the tail of an animal
Tail
Remove the stalk of fruits or berries
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