tail
part of speech
noun (a tail, tails); verb (tail, tails, tailed — to follow secretly)
meaning for a pupil
1) The part at the back end of an animal's body that sticks out and can often move. tree →
2) The back part of something: the tail of a plane, the tail of a comet. tree →
3) Tails: the side of a coin without the head picture. tree →
4) Verb: to follow someone closely and secretly. tree →
sense in the lessons
In the Tanakh and Jewish tradition: It means the fat tail of a sheep, which was offered on the altar. In Deuteronomy, "head" and "tail" mean being first or last. Interpretation: Tradition sees the fat tail as one of the choice parts burned for God. Being "the tail" is a warning of the fall that follows disobedience. In the primary lessons: In science: animals use tails to balance (cats, squirrels), swim (fish), steer (birds), swat flies (cows, horses), hold on (monkeys), store fat; lizards can drop their tails to escape. In animal safety: a wagging tail does not always mean a dog is friendly; don't pull animals' tails. In maths and probability: heads or tails when you flip a coin — each has a one-in-two chance. Phrases: wag its tail, heads or tails, tail end, tail of a comet, tadpole tail.
examples
- And he shall offer of it all the fat thereof: the fat tail, and the fat that covereth the inwards, (Torah LEV.7.3, JPS 1917) tree →
- He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him; he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail. (Torah DEU.28.44, JPS 1917) tree →
- and the fat of the ox, and of the ram, the fat tail, and that which covereth the inwards, and the kidneys, and the lobe of the liver. (Torah LEV.9.19, JPS 1917) tree →
- He straineth his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together. (Writings JOB.40.17, JPS 1917) tree →
- Therefore the LORD doth cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-branch and rush, in one day. (Prophets ISA.9.13, JPS 1917) tree →
- Neither shall there be for Egypt any work, which head or tail, palm-branch or rush, may do. (Prophets ISA.19.15, JPS 1917) tree →
- The dog wagged its tail. tree →
- A cat uses its tail to balance. tree →
- Heads or tails? tree →
- A lizard can drop its tail to escape. tree →
- Never pull an animal's tail. tree →
- We sat at the tail of the plane. tree →
- The comet had a long bright tail. tree →
- Tadpoles lose their tails as they turn into frogs. tree →
- RABBIT LOST HIS FINE BUSHY TAIL tree →
note
Countable: tails. Homophone: «tale» (a story) — «a tail» is on an animal, «a tale» is told. In probability: a fair coin lands on tails about half the time — but each flip is new, so tails is not «due» after many heads.
In the corpora
- And he shall offer of it all the fat thereof: the fat tail, and the fat that covereth the inwards,
- Therefore the LORD doth cut off from Israel head and tail, palm-branch and rush, in one day.
- The elder and the man of rank, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
- Neither shall there be for Egypt any work, which head or tail, palm-branch or rush, may do.
- He straineth his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are knit together.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «tail» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.