How to spell tail

Tail is spelled T-A-I-L.

hear ittail/teɪl/nounRules and real life

What it means: The rear part of an animal or object.

In a sentence: The dog wagged its fluffy tail happily.

Not to be confused with: tale, a different word.

Same family: tailing, tailed, follow, shadow, surveillance. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: This spy meaning of "tail" comes from the older idea of something that follows behind, like an animal’s tail. It began to be used as slang for a person who follows someone else, especially in police and criminal contexts, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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