Tag Tag intransitive verb To follow closely, as it were an appendage; -- often with after ; as, to tag after a person.

Tag Tag noun [ From Tag , v. ; confer Tag , an end.] A child's play in which one runs after and touches another, and then runs away to avoid being touched.

Tag day Tag day A day on which contributions to some public or private charity or fund are solicited promiscuously on the street, and tags given to contributors to wear as an evidence of their having contributed. Such solicitation is now subject to legal restriction in various places.

Tag-rag Tag"-rag` noun & adjective [ See Tag an end, and Rag .] The lowest class of people; the rabble. Confer Rag, tag, and bobtail , under Bobtail .

If the tag-rag people did not clap him and hiss him, I am no true man.

Shak.

Tagal Ta·gal" noun 1. One of a Malayan race, mainly of central Luzon, next to the Visayans the most numerous of the native peoples of the Philippines. Nearly all are Christians and many are highly educated.

2. The language of the Tagals; Tagalog.

Tagalog Ta·ga"log noun 1. (Ethnol.) Any member of a certain tribe which is one of the leading and most civilized of those native of the Philippine Islands.

2. The language of the Tagalogs. It belongs to the Malay family of languages and is one of the most highly developed members of the family.

Tagbelt Tag"belt` noun (Far.) Same as Tagsore . [ Obsolete]

Tagger Tag"ger noun 1. One who, or that which, appends or joins one thing to another.

2. That which is pointed like a tag.

Hedgehogs' or procupines' small taggers .

Cotton.

3. plural Sheets of tin or other plate which run below the gauge. Knight.

4. A device for removing taglocks from sheep. Knight.

Taglet Tag"let noun A little tag.

Taglia Tagl"ia noun [ Italian , a cutting, a pulley, from tagliare to cut. See Tailor .] (Mech.) A peculiar combination of pulleys. Brande & C.

Tagliacotain Tagl`ia·co"tain adjective (Surg.) Of or pertaining to Tagliacozzi , a Venetian surgeon; as, the Tagliacotian operation, a method of rhinoplasty described by him. [ Also Taliacotian , and Tagliacozzian .]

Taglioni Tagl·io"ni noun A kind of outer coat, or overcoat; -- said to be so named after a celebrated Italian family of professional dancers.

He ought certainly to exchange his taglioni , or comfortable greatcoat, for a cuirass of steel.

Sir W. Scott.

Taglock Tag"lock` noun An entangled lock, as of hair or wool. Nares.

Tagnicate Tag"ni·cate noun (Zoology) The white-lipped peccary.

Tagsore Tag"sore` noun (Far.) Adhesion of the tail of a sheep to the wool from excoriation produced by contact with the feces; -- called also tagbelt . [ Obsolete]

Tagtail Tag"tail` noun 1. A worm which has its tail conspicuously colored.

2. A person who attaches himself to another against the will of the latter; a hanger-on.

Taguan Tag"u·an noun [ From the native name in the East Indies.] (Zoology) A large flying squirrel ( Pteromys petuarista ). Its body becomes two feet long, with a large bushy tail nearly as long.

Taguicati Ta`gui·ca"ti noun [ From the native name.] (Zoology) The white-lipped peccary.

Taha Ta"ha noun The African rufous-necked weaver bird ( Hyphantornis texor ).

Tahaleb Ta·ha"leb noun [ From the native name.] (Zoology) A fox ( Vulpes Niloticus ) of Northern Africa.

Tahitian Ta·hi"ti·an adjective Of or pertaining to Tahiti, an island in the Pacific Ocean. -- noun A native inhabitant of Tahiti.

Tahr Tahr noun (Zoology) Same as Thar .

Tai Tai adjective Designating, or pertaining to, the chief linguistic stock of Indo-China, including the peoples of Siamese and Shan speech.

Tai Tai noun A member of one of the tribes of the Tai stock.

The Tais first appeared in history in Yunnan, and from thence they migrated into Upper Burma. The earliest swarms appear to have entered that tract about two thousand years ago, and were small in number.

Census of India, 1901.

Tail Tail noun [ French taille a cutting. See Entail , Tally .] (Law) Limitation; abridgment. Burrill.

Estate in tail , a limited, abridged, or reduced fee; an estate limited to certain heirs, and from which the other heirs are precluded; -- called also estate tail . Blackstone.

Tail Tail adjective (Law) Limited; abridged; reduced; curtailed; as, estate tail .

Tail Tail noun [ Anglo-Saxon tęgel , tęgl ; akin to German zagel , Icelandic tagl , Swedish tagel , Goth. tagl hair. √59.] 1. (Zoology) The terminal, and usually flexible, posterior appendage of an animal.

» The tail of mammals and reptiles contains a series of movable vertebrę, and is covered with flesh and hairs or scales like those of other parts of the body. The tail of existing birds consists of several more or less consolidated vertebrę which supports a fanlike group of quills to which the term tail is more particularly applied. The tail of fishes consists of the tapering hind portion of the body ending in a caudal fin. The term tail is sometimes applied to the entire abdomen of a crustacean or insect, and sometimes to the terminal piece or pygidium alone.

2. 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.

Harvey.

3. 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 .

Deut. xxviii. 13.

4. A train or company of attendants; a retinue.

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

Sir W. Scott.

5. 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.

6. (Anat.) The distal tendon of a muscle.

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

8. (Surg.) (a) 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 . (b) One of the strips at the end of a bandage formed by splitting the bandage one or more times.

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

10. (Mus.) The part of a note which runs perpendicularly upward or downward from the head; the stem. Moore (Encyc. of Music).

11. plural Same as Tailing , 4.

12. (Architecture) The bottom or lower portion of a member or part, as a slate or tile.

13. plural (Mining) See Tailing , noun , 5.

Tail beam . (Architecture) Same as Tailpiece . -- Tail coverts (Zoology) , the feathers which cover the bases of the tail quills. They are sometimes much longer than the quills, and form elegant plumes. Those above the quills are called the upper tail coverts , and those below, the under tail coverts . -- Tail end , the latter end; the termination; as, the tail end of a contest. [ Colloq.] -- Tail joist . (Architecture) Same as Tailpiece . -- 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 (Nautical) , 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. -- Tail spindle , the spindle of the tailstock of a turning lathe; -- called also dead spindle . -- 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.

Sir P. Sidney.

Tail Tail transitive verb 1. To follow or hang to, like a tail; to be attached closely to, as that which can not be evaded. [ Obsolete]

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

Fuller.

2. To pull or draw by the tail. [ R.] Hudibras.

To tail in or on (Architecture) , to fasten by one of the ends into a wall or some other support; as, to tail in a timber.

Tail Tail intransitive verb 1. (Architecture) To hold by the end; -- said of a timber when it rests upon a wall or other support; -- with in or into .

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

Tail on . (Nautical) See Tally on , under Tally .

Tail Tail noun 1. plural (Rope Making) 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.

2. plural A tailed coat; a tail coat. [ Colloq. or Dial.]

Tail Tail noun (Aėronautics) In flying machines, a plane or group of planes used at the rear to confer stability.

Tail-bay Tail"-bay` noun 1. (Architecture) One of the joists which rest one end on the wall and the other on a girder; also, the space between a wall and the nearest girder of a floor. Confer Case-bay .

2. The part of a canal lock below the lower gates.

Tail-water Tail"-wa`ter noun Water in a tailrace.

Tailage Tail"age noun (O. Eng. Law) See Tallage .

Tailblock Tail"block` noun (Nautical) A block with a tail. See Tail , 9.

Tailboard Tail"board` noun The board at the rear end of a cart or wagon, which can be removed or let down, for convenience in loading or unloading.

Tailed Tailed adjective Having a tail; having (such) a tail or (so many) tails; -- chiefly used in composition; as, bob tailed , long tailed , etc.

Snouted and tailed like a boar.

Grew.

Tailing Tail"ing noun 1. (Architecture) The part of a projecting stone or brick inserted in a wall. Gwilt.

2. (Surg.) Same as Tail , noun , 8 (a) .

3. Sexual intercourse. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

4. plural The lighter parts of grain separated from the seed threshing and winnowing; chaff.

5. plural (Mining) The refuse part of stamped ore, thrown behind the tail of the buddle or washing apparatus. It is dressed over again to secure whatever metal may exist in it. Called also tails . Pryce.

Tailing Tail"ing noun (Electricity) A prolongation of current in a telegraph line, due to capacity in the line and causing signals to run together.

Taille Taille noun [ French See Tally , Tailor .] 1. A tally; an account scored on a piece of wood. [ Obsolete]

Whether that he paid or took by taille .

Chaucer.

2. (O. F. Law) Any imposition levied by the king, or any other lord, upon his subjects.

The taille , as it still subsists in France, may serve as an example of those ancient tallages. It was a tax upon the profits of the farmer, which they estimate by the stock that he has upon the farm.

A. Smith.

3. (Mus.) The French name for the tenor voice or part; also, for the tenor viol or viola.

Tailless Tail"less adjective Having no tail. H. Spencer.

Taillie Tail"lie noun (Scots Law) Same as Tailzie .

Tailor Tai"lor noun [ Old French tailleor , French tailleur , from Old French taillier , French tailler to cut, from Latin talea a rod, stick, a cutting, layer for planting. Confer Detail , Entail , Retail , Tally , noun ] 1. One whose occupation is to cut out and make men's garments; also, one who cuts out and makes ladies' outer garments.

Well said, good woman's tailor . . . I would thou wert a man's tailor .

Shak.

2. (Zoology) (a) The mattowacca; -- called also tailor herring . (b) The silversides.

3. (Zoology) The goldfish. [ Prov. Eng.]

Salt-water tailor (Zoology) , the bluefish. [ Local, U. S.] Bartlett. -- Tailor bird (Zoology) , any one of numerous species of small Asiatic and East Indian singing birds belonging to Orthotomus , Prinia , and allied genera. They are noted for the skill with which they sew leaves together to form nests. The common Indian species are O. longicauda , which has the back, scapulars, and upper tail coverts yellowish green, and the under parts white; and the golden-headed tailor bird ( O. coronatus ), which has the top of the head golden yellow and the back and wings pale olive-green.

Tailor Tai"lor intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Tailored ; present participle & verbal noun Tailoring .] To practice making men's clothes; to follow the business of a tailor.

These tailoring artists for our lays
Invent cramped rules.

M. Green.

Tailor-made Tai"lor-made` adjective Made by a tailor or according to a tailor's fashion; -- said specif. of women's garments made with certain closeness of fit, simplicity of ornament, etc.

Tailoress Tai"lor·ess noun A female tailor.

Tailoring Tai"lor·ing adverb The business or the work of a tailor or a tailoress.

Tailpiece Tail"piece` noun 1. A piece at the end; an appendage.

2. (Architecture) One of the timbers which tail into a header, in floor framing. See Illust. of Header .

3. (Print.) An ornament placed at the bottom of a short page to fill up the space, or at the end of a book. Savage.

4. A piece of ebony or other material attached to the lower end of a violin or similar instrument, to which the strings are fastened.

Tailpiece Tail"piece` noun 1. (Locks) A piece for transmitting motion from the hub of a lock to the latch bolt.

2. The part of a telescope containing the adjusting device for the eyepiece, etc.

Tailpin Tail"pin" noun (Machinery) The center in the spindle of a turning lathe.

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