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.
One of the strips at the end of a bandage formed by splitting the bandage one or more times.
From Middle English tail, tayl, teil, from Old English tæġl ("tail"), from Proto-Germanic *taglaz, *taglą, from Proto-Indo-European *doḱ- ("hair of the tail"), from Proto-Indo-European *deḱ- ("to tear, fray, shred"). Cognate with Scots tail ("tail"), Dutch teil ("tail, haulm, blade"), Low German Tagel ("twisted scourge, whip of thongs and ropes; end of a rope"), German Zagel ("tail"), dialectal Danish tavl ("hair of the tail"), Swedish tagel ("hair of the tail, horsehair"), Norwegian tagl ("tail"), Icelandic tagl ("tail, horsetail, ponytail"), Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌲𐌻 ("hair"). In some senses, apparently by a generalization of the usual opposition between head and tail.
From Anglo-Norman, probably from a shortened form of entail.
Modern English dictionary
Explore and search massive catalog of over 900,000 word meanings.
Word of the Day
Get a curated memorable word every day.
Challenge yourself
Level up your vocabulary by setting personal goals.