The caudal appendage of an animal that is attached to their posterior and near the anus or cloaca.
Understanding tail
• An object or part of an object resembling a tail in shape, such as the thongs on a cat-o'-nine-tails; a strand of material hanging from something.
• The back, last, lower, or inferior part of anything.
• The feathers attached to the pygostyle of a bird.
• The tail-end of any object.
• The rear structure of an aircraft, the empennage.
• The visible stream of dust and gases blown from a comet by the solar wind.
• The latter part of a time period or event, or (collectively) persons or objects represented in this part.
• The part of a distribution most distant from the mode.
• One who surreptitiously follows another.
• The lower order of batsmen in the batting order, usually specialist bowlers.
• The lower loop of the letters in the Roman alphabet, as in g, q or y.
• The side of a coin not bearing the head; normally the side on which the monetary value of the coin is indicated; the reverse.
• All the last terms of a sequence, from some term on.
• The buttocks or backside.
• The penis of a person or animal.
• Sexual intercourse.
• The stern; the back of the kayak.
• A train or company of attendants; a retinue.
• The distal tendon of a muscle.
• A filamentous projection on the tornal section of each hind wing of certain butterflies.
• A downy or feathery appendage of certain achens, formed of the permanent elongated style.
• 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.
• A rope spliced to the strap of a block, by which it may be lashed to anything.
• The part of a note which runs perpendicularly upward or downward from the head; the stem.
• A tailing.
• The bottom or lower portion of a member or part such as a slate or tile.
• A tailcoat.
• Synonym of pigtail (“a short length of twisted electrical wire”).
• The final fraction of a distillation run, typically containing impurities and fusel oils.
(Verb) To hold by the end; said of a timber when it rests upon a wall or other support; with in or into
• To swing with the stern in a certain direction; said of a vessel at anchor.
• To follow or hang to, like a tail; to be attached closely to, as that which can not be evaded.
• To follow and observe surreptitiously.
• To pull or draw by the tail.
(Adjective) Limited; abridged; reduced; curtailed.
(Noun) Limitation of inheritance to certain heirs.
How tail affects you
tail appears in U.S. legal practice across multiple practice areas. Knowing what it means — and when it applies — can determine the outcome of motions, filings, and negotiations. For non-lawyers, the value of looking up a precise definition is that legal terms often carry meanings that differ from everyday usage; relying on the common meaning can lead to costly missteps.
The mechanics of tail
In practice, tail is invoked when parties, judges, or attorneys need to identify the legal status of an issue, the rights of those involved, or the procedural step required next. The definition shown above is sourced from Wiktionary , which is widely cited in U.S. legal practice. Because U.S. law is jurisdictionally layered — federal, state, and sometimes local — the precise application of the term can vary by court, so check the controlling authority for your specific case.