tagtail 
tagtail (lag'tal), n. 1. A win-in with ii inil like 
;i lug. 
Thi-rcari- . . other kinilHof worms, . . . an the marsh 
worm, tin- tii : it<ii't. Ihi' flux-worm. 
/. U'nlt'iii, Complete Angler, p. 131. 
2. A hanger-on ; a parasitr : a syeoplmnt ; a 
dependent. 
tagua (liig'wa), n. [Native name in Panama.] 
The ivory-palm, 1'hytrli jilins miirriirarpa. See 
irry-nnt. anil cut iiinlrr I'lu/ti'li iilmn. 
taguan (tag'wii.n), . [B. Ind.] 1. One of the 
large Asiatic ami Ea.st Indian flying-squirrels 
nl' the grnus I'liTiinnjx, in a strict sense, as /'. 
IH'taitrinta. 2. A flying-phalanger or petau- 
rist. See cut iinilrr l'< luiii-i.tln. 
taguicati (tag-i-kii'te), n. [S. Amer.] The 
warroe, or white-lipped peccary, Dicolyli'x lulii- 
llttlx. See lltjliyu. 
tag-wool (tag' will), n. The long wool of tags or 
hogs (young sheep), not shorn while they were 
lambs. Iliilliiri-u. 
taha (tii'liii), ii. [African.] 1. An African 
weaver-bird of the family /'/i>m</,r. I'lirumiltnm 
lulni (originally Kuplectes taha of Sir A. Smith, 
tln'ii I'lni-i-iis In/in of G. R. Gray). The male is 
mostly yellow anil black, and 4J Inches long; the female 
smaller, and 
Is sm 
, 
nd quite dltlerent in color. This bird is found 
Taha (PyromelaHa tiltta). 
ill the interior of southeastern Africa. Its name appears 
to be shared by some other weavers, and is applied by 
some compilers to the rufous-necked weaver, commonly 
called Hyphantornit ttxtar(Q. R. Gray), after Ploceus lex- 
tor of Vleillot, 1819, though its onym is //. cucullatus, after 
Orwliu fufiillniiiK of I'luli pp Ludwig stat ins Muller, 1778, 
us first indicated by John Cassin in 1804. 
2. [.cap.'] [NL. (Reichenbach, 1861).] A ge- 
nus of such weaver-birds, not different from 
I'yroinelana. 
Tahitian (ta-he'ti-an), a. and . [< Tahiti (see 
def.) + -aw.] I. n. Of or pertaining to or in- 
habiting Tahiti, the largest of the Society Isl- 
ands in the South Pacific, now belonging to 
France. Also (Makeitau. 
II. . One of the native inhabitants of Tahiti, 
who constitute a typical branch of the Polyne- 
sian race. 
Tahiti chestnut. See ehextmit. 
tahli (ta/li), n. [Hind.] A Hindu ornament of 
gold, engraved with the likeness of the goddess 
Lakshmi, and suspended by a consecrated string 
of many fine yellow threads : worn by the wives 
of Brahmans. Also tali. 
tahona (ta-ho'na), . [Sp., a mill, esp. one 
worked by a horse or mule, also atalionti, < Ar. 
tohona, with art. at-tahona, a mill, < tahana, 
grind.] In western United States mining dis- 
tricts, a crushing-mill or arrastre turned by a 
horse or mule. 
tahr (tar), n. See thar'**. 
tai(ti),. [Jap.] The Japanese bream, Chri/so- 
jiltri/x ninliiuilitt, or I'agrus cardinalis, found in 
or at the mouths of Chinese and Japanese riv- 
ers, from Fuhkien in China to Saghalin. It is 
one of the best fishes of the Japanese, and is of a beauti- 
ful deep-red to a brown-red gold-color. /. /. Jtein. Japan, 
p. 192. 
Talc (tii'ik), a. and 11. [< Siamese Thai, Thai, 
Tai (see def.), lit. freemen.] I. a. Of or per- 
taining to the Tai (Thai, T'hai), the principal 
race of people in the Indo-Chinese peninsula, 
including the Siamese, the Shan tribes, the 
Laos, etc.: as, the Taie dialects. 
II. .1. A collective name for the group of 
languages or dialects spoken by the Tai. 
taigle (ta'gl), r. ; pret. and pp. taigled, ppr. 
ta/igUng, fAppar. a Sc. var. of "toggle, freq. 
of faj/ 1 .] I. trans. To entangle; impede; hin- 
der; hence, to fatigue; weary. Jamieson. 
[Scotch.] 
II. in trans. To tarry; delay; loiter; procras- 
tinate. JiiHiii'xiiu. [Scotch.] 
6169 
taigna, tainha(ii'nyji), . [Bra/..] A Brazilian 
tisTi from whose roe a kind of caviar is made, 
taikun, . Sre ii/mim. 
tall 1 (tal), H. [< MK. toil. tin/I. ML < AS. I.;. 
</>!. tiegl = OIK;. .-,//, :</, MHO. -.-/'/. 
;nil, toil, tail, also nting. If. dial. :ii/j>-l, coutr. 
:<tt. tail, = Icel. taijl = Sw. togrl, hair of the 
tail, = Goth, tagl, hair; origin uncertain.] 1. 
The posterior extremity of an animal, in any 
way distinguished from the rest of the body; 
the hind end or hinder part of the body, op- 
posite the head ; especially, the coccygeal re- 
gion or caudal appendage, when prolo'nged be- 
yond the rest of the body. More particularly- (a) 
In mammals generally, the tauda, which may be a mere 
stump, or a slender appendage longer than the rest of 
the body. It consists of an indefinitely numerous series 
of coccygeal vertebne with usually elongated bodies and 
reduced or aborted processes or neural canal, covered 
with flesh, etc., and enveloped In integument frequently 
hairy, like the rest of the body. These vertebras resemble 
the Joints or phalanges of a finger, and the whole organ Is 
usually flexible, and may be prehensile, like a hand. In 
mammals without hind limbs, as cetaceans, the tall Is the 
small or tapering hind part of the body ending in the 
flukes, or the flukes themselves, (6) In birds, the tail- 
feathers collectively, (c) In reptiles, the prolongation of 
the body behind the anus, of whatever character. In rep- 
tiles with legs, as crocodiles, turtles, most lizards, and 
nearly all batrachians. the tail obviously corresponds to 
the part so named in mammals ; it is often extremely long, 
slender, flexible and lash-like, and generally fragile. It 
may be sometimes replaced by a new growth when broken 
off. In serpents and other limbless reptiles the tail is 
marked by the position of the anus as indicating tnt end 
of the body-cavity; It U solid and muscular, and often 
differently scaled from the parts In advance of It (if) In 
fishes (as In cetaceans, above), the tail is the postabdomt- 
nal part of the body, In-hind the anus, usually tapering and 
ending in the caudal fin ; also, this fin Itself in some cases. 
In such fish-like vertebrates as the rays, the tail is often 
a long, slender, whip-like appendage, well distinguished 
from the rest of the body. See cuts under fish and diphy- 
cereal, (e) In crustaceans, the abdomen or abdominal 
region, with its appendages; the part of the body which 
succeeds the cephalothorax ; the urosome. It is usually 
conspicuous, and may be longer than the rest of the ani- 
mal. It is well marked in the macrurous or long-tailed 
crustaceans, as lobsters, prawns, shrimps, crawfish, etc., 
consisting of a series of flexible segments with appendages 
in the form of swimmerets, a rhipidura, a telson, etc. In 
the short-tailed or brachyurous crustaceans, as crabs, the 
tail is reduced and folded closely under thehody, forming 
the apron. (/) In insects, the end of the abdomen, in any 
way distinguished ; the pygldium ; theclaspers; theorf. 
posltor, etc. : as, the bee carries a sting in its lull, (g) In 
many arachnidans, as scorpions, a well-marked abdominal 
orpostabdominal region of the body, behind the thorax: its 
character is similar to that of the tall of a crustacean. (A) 
In worms, etc., the tail-end, or any part of the body away 
from the head. It is sometimes well marked, as in Cepha- 
lobraiKhia. Compare tag-tail, 1. (f) The buttocks. [Low.] 
2. In the Turkish empire, a horsetail, or one of 
two or three horsetails, formerly borne as a 
standard of relative rank before pashas, who 
were accordingly distinguished as pashas (or 
bashaws) of one, two, or three tails. 3. A tail- 
like appendage or continuation ; any terminal 
attachment to or prolonged part of an object 
comparable to the tail of an animal: as, the 
tail of a kite, or of the letter y ; the tail of a 
coat (a coat-toiJ), or (colloquially) of a woman's 
long dress. 
The tail* of certain letters are curved, the curve being 
represented on the refractory terra cotta by two scratches, 
which together form an angle. Science, XVI. 172. 
He crossed the room, stepping over the tail* of gowns, 
and stood before his old friend. 
The Century, XXXVI. 128. 
Specifically (a) In anat. : (1) The slenderest or most mov- 
able part of a muscle, or the tendon of a muscle that is 
attached to the part especially moved when the muscle 
acts ; the insertion, opposite the origin or head. (2) The 
outer corner of the eye : the exterior canthus : more fully 
called tail n/the eye. (6) In enlum., one of the long slender 
prolongations backward of the wings, as of a butterfly or 
moth : more fully called tail of the mng. See cut under 
FffOiu. (e) Some elongated flexible part or appendage, 
as a proboscis or footstalk, (if) In axtran., the luminous 
train, often of enormous length, extending from the head 
of a comet in a direction nearly opposite to that of the 
sun. (e) In '">'., any slender terminal prolongation, as 
the appendage to the seeds of Clematis, Junciu, etc., or 
the linear extension from the base of the anther-lobes in 
many Cmnporita. Said also sometimes of a petiole or 
peduncle. (/) In musical notation, same as rttmi, 6. (g) 
Xaut., a rope spliced round a block so as to leave a long 
end by which the block may be attached to any object 
See tail-Node. 
4. Something formed like a tail ; an arrange- 
ment of objects or persons extending, or im- 
agined to extend, as a tail or train. Specifically 
(a) A long curl, braid, or gathering of hair : also called a 
cue or queue, or a pi'jtail, when hanging down behind in 
a single strand. 
I noticed half a dozen groups of slender damsels with 
short frocks and long tails, who may grow up to be the 
belles of the next generation. 
Conyreyatinnalist, Aug. 4, 1SS7. 
(6) A line of persons awaiting their turns, as at a ticket- 
office or a bank ; a cue. (e) A train of followers or atten- 
dants; a txjdy of persons holding rank after some chief or 
leader ; the following of a chief or commander. 
tail 
li-li hane no tome to telle the tail that hem folweth. 
< if 111:111) nianere men for Medes sake sent aft. -r. 
Pirn Plowman tl'). iii. !:;. 
Why should her worship lack 
H<T init of maiilK, more than you do of men? 
ft. Jontan, Tale of a Tub, II. ! 
"Ah! . . . if you SUM. n liuinlie-wassel (English gentle- 
man) uw but ilii-flii.-f ith hi* Inil an I" -With his (ni/ 
on .'" echoed Edward, In some surprise. "Yes that is, 
with all his usual followers when he visits those of the 
same rank." Scott, Waverlcy, xvl. 
S. The hinder, bottom, or concluding part of 
anything, in space or in time ; the part or sec- 
tion opposed to the head, mass, or beginning: 
the termination or extremity; the back; the 
rear; the conclusion. 
Heches and brode okes were blowen to the grounde, 
Torned vpward her ItheirJ failles In tokenynge of drede. 
Pien Ploaman (B), r. 1. 
And the Lord shall make tbee the head, and not the tail. 
I 'lit. XXVili. 1. 
Men that dig, 
And lash away their lives at the carl - 
Double our comforts. Fletcher, Loyal Subject, ii. 1. 
In the tayle of a Ilericano wee were separated from the 
Admiral). Quoted In ('apt. John Smitn'i Works, 1. 236. 
Hee cornea, and with a great trayne at his tayle. 
DeUttr, Seven Deadly Sins, p. 32. 
Specifically (a) Of a coin, the reverse, or the side oppo- 
site that bearing the head or effigy, as In the expression 
head or tail, or htadx and tails, with reference to the side 
that may turn in the tossing or twirling of coins as a game. 
Compare croa and pile, under crol. (6) Of a roofing-slate 
or -tile, or the like, the lower or exposed part, (c) Of a 
projecting stone or brick built into a wall, the inner or 
covered end. Also called tailiny. (d) pi. That which 
Is left of a mass of material after treatment, as by distil- 
lation or trituration and decantation ; a residuum ; tail- 
Ings. 
The tail* or faints, as well as the still less volatile or 
ordinary fusel oil, are mixtures of several alcohols and 
fatty acid ethers. Science, XVI. 129. 
The presence In ft [mercury] of the minutest trace of 
lead or tin causes it to " draw tails." 
Entye. Brit., XVI. 32. 
(<) In turn., a part 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. Also 
called tailing. 
6. i>l. A coat with tails. See tail-coat. [Lo- 
cal.] 
Once a boy (at Harrow School In England] has reached 
the modern remove, he puts on his taUi, or tailed coat. 
St. Sicholai, XIV. 400. 
7. In bookbinding, the bottom or lower edge of 
a book. The term is applied both to the paper 
of the text and to the cover of the book. 8. 
The handle of some kind of rake, as of those 
used foroystering, etc. 9. In mining, the poor 
part, or that part deposited at the lower end 
of a trough in which tin ore settles as it flows 
from the stamps, according to the mode of 
ore-dressing employed in some Cornish mines. 
The middle part is called the craie, and the upper the 
head; each of these divisions is concentrated separately 
in a round huddle, and then finished off in the keeves. 
This method Is adopted In certain mines where the rock 
has to be stamped very fine because the ore Is dissemi- 
nated through it in very minute particles. Cow's-taiL 
the end of a rope not properly whipped or knotted, and 
hence frayed out and hanging in shreds : as, to be hang- 
ing in cows'-taila (said of a poorly managed ship). Crag- 
and-tall, in ijeol. Seecraj?'. Cut and long tailt. See 
cut. Dragon's bead and tall See drayon. in tall 
Oft, close upon ; right after ; immediately succeeding. 
Meanwhile the skies 'gan thunder, and in tail 
0/that fell pouring storms of sleet and hail. 
B. Jonson, Poetaster, v. 1. 
Neither head nor tail. See head. Tall margin. Sec 
margin, 1. Tall Of a lock, on a canal, the lower end, or 
entrance Into the lower pond. Tall Of a stream, a 
quiet part, where smooth water succeeds a swift or tur- 
bulent flow. 
He has ta'en the ford at that gtrram taU ; 
I wot he swam both strong and steady. ' 
Annan Water (Child's Ballads, II. 1M). 
In the tail of a swift stream, where it broadens out be- 
fore another white rapid, yon book a flsh. 
Quarterly See., CXXVI. 341. 
Tall of the eye. See def. 3 (a) (2). 
Miss Lucy noticed this out of the tail <>/ her eye. 
C. JKeade, Love me Little, xiv. 
Tall of the pancreas, the end of the pancreas toward 
the spleen. Tall of the trenches, in fort., the post 
where the besiegers begin to break ground and cover them- 
selves from the fire of the defenders of the place in ad- 
vancing the lines of approach. Tall Of the wing. See 
def. 3 (6). To nick a horse's talL See nicH. Top 
and tall. See fop'. Top over tallt. See tnpi. To 
put, cast, or lay salt on the tall ot See mtti. To 
turn tall, to turn the back ; wheel about, as in aversion 
or fright ; hence, to run away ; flee ; shirk an encounter. 
Would she (urn tail to the heron, and fly quite out an- 
other way; but all was to return in a higher pitch. 
Sir P. Sidney. (Latham.) 
Our Sire (O too too proudly-base) 
Titrnil tail to God, and to the Fiend his face. 
Sylvester, tr. of Du Bartas's Weeks. IL, The Kuril-". 
To twist the lion's tail, to do or say something Intended 
to excite the resentment of the government or people of 
