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    tail

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    tail
    I
    tail1 S2 W3 /teɪl/ noun [countable]
     Language: Old English
     Origin: tægel
    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  [usually singular] 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. [plural] a man’s jacket which is short at the front and divides into two long pieces at the back, worn to very formal events
       SYN  tailcoat
      b. [uncountable] spoken said when you are tossing a coin (=throwing it up in the air to decide which of two things you will do or choose)
       OPP  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
    ■ adjectives
       ▪ 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.
    ■ verbs
       ▪ 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.

    II
    tail2 verb [transitive]
    informal to follow someone and watch what they do, where they go etc:
        The police have been tailing him for several months.
         
    tail away phrasal verb British English
      to tail off
    tail back phrasal verb
      British English if traffic tails back, a long line of cars forms, for example because the road is blocked
    tail off (also tail away British English) phrasal verb
      1. to become gradually less, smaller etc, and often stop or disappear completely:
        Profits tailed off towards the end of the year.
      2. written if someone’s voice tails off, it becomes quieter and then stops:
        ‘I didn’t mean ...’ Her voice tailed off in embarrassment.
         
    THESAURUS
       ▪ follow to walk, drive etc behind or after someone, for example in order to see where they are going: The man had followed her home to find out where she lived. | Follow that car! | He hired a detective to follow her.
       ▪ chase to quickly run or drive after someone or something in order to catch them when they are trying to escape: Police chased the car along the motorway at speeds of up to 90 mph.
       ▪ run after somebody/go after somebody to quickly follow someone or something in order to stop them or talk to them: I ran after him to say sorry, but he’d already got on the bus.
       ▪ stalk /stɔːk $ stɒːk/ to secretly follow an animal in order to kill it, or to secretly follow a person in order to attack them: a tiger stalking its prey | He had a long history of stalking women in his neighbourhood.
       ▪ pursue /pəˈsjuː $ pərˈsuː/ written to chase someone in a very determined way: The ship was being pursued by enemy submarines.
       ▪ give chase written to chase someone or something who is trying to escape from you: One of the officers gave chase and arrested the man. | The calf ran away and the lion gave chase.
       ▪ tail to secretly follow someone in order to watch what they do and where they go: Apparently, the police had been tailing the terrorists for months.
       ▪ track to follow and find a person or animal by looking at the marks they leave on the ground: The bushmen were tracking antelope in the Kalahari desert.