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Tail vs Lie - What's the difference?

tail | lie |

As a noun tail

is .

As a verb lie is

.

tail

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) (m), (m), (m), from (etyl) . In some senses, apparently by a generalization of the usual opposition between head'' and ''tail .

Noun

(en noun)
  • (anatomy) The caudal appendage of an animal that is attached to its posterior and near the anus.
  • Most primates have a tail and fangs.
  • The tail-end of an object, e.g. the rear of an aircraft's fuselage, containing the tailfin.
  • An object or part of an object resembling a tail in shape, such as the thongs on a cat-o'-nine-tails.
  • * (rfdate), Harvey:
  • Doretus writes a great praise of the distilled waters of those tails that hang on willow trees.
  • The rear structure of an aircraft, the empennage.
  • Specifically, 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.
  • (statistics) The part of a distribution most distant from the mode; as , a long tail.
  • One who surreptitiously follows another.
  • (cricket) The last four or five batsmen in the batting order, usually specialist bowlers.
  • (typography) The lower loop of the letters in the Roman alphabet, as in g'', ''q'' or ''y .
  • (chiefly, in the plural) The side of a coin not bearing the head; normally the side on which the monetary value of the coin is indicated; the reverse.
  • (mathematics) All the last terms of a sequence, from some term on.
  • A sequence (a_n) is said to be ''frequently 0'' if every tail of the sequence contains 0.
  • The buttocks or backside.
  • * 1499 , (John Skelton), The Bowge of Courte :
  • By Goddis sydes, syns I her thyder broughte, / She hath gote me more money with her tayle / Than hath some shyppe that into Bordews sayle.
  • *, I.49:
  • They were wont to wipe their tailes .
  • (slang) The male member of a person or animal.
  • After the burly macho nudists' polar bear dip, their tails''' were spectacularly shrunk, so they looked like an immature kid's innocent '''tail .
  • (slang, uncountable) Sexual intercourse.
  • I'm gonna get me some tail tonight.
  • (kayaking) The stern; the back of the kayak.
  • The back, last, lower, or inferior part of anything.
  • * Bible, Deuteronomy xxviii. 13:
  • The Lord will make thee the head, and not the tail .
  • A train or company of attendants; a retinue.
  • * (rfdate), Walter Scott:
  • "Ah," said he, "if you saw but the chief with his tail on."
  • (anatomy) The distal tendon of a muscle.
  • A downy or feathery appendage of certain achens, formed of the permanent elongated style.
  • (surgery) 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.
  • (nautical) A rope spliced to the strap of a block, by which it may be lashed to anything.
  • (music) The part of a note which runs perpendicularly upward or downward from the head; the stem.
  • (mining) A tailing.
  • (architecture) The bottom or lower portion of a member or part such as a slate or tile.
  • Synonyms

    * ass, poontang, poon, tang, pussy, punani

    Derived terms

    * cat-o'-nine-tails * chase one's tail * coattail * cocktail * have the world by the tail * rattail * shirttail * tailback * tailcoat * tail covert * tail-end * tail feather * tail fin * tailgate * tail lamp * tail light * tail-off * tailpiece * tailpipe * tailplane * tail-race * tail-skid * tailspin * tailstock * tailwheel * tailwind * turn tail * wagtail * whitetail * yellowtail

    See also

    * caudal

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To follow and observe surreptitiously.
  • Tail that car!
  • (architecture) To hold by the end; said of a timber when it rests upon a wall or other support; with in'' or ''into
  • (nautical) To swing with the stern in a certain direction; said of a vessel at anchor.
  • This vessel tails downstream.
  • To follow or hang to, like a tail; to be attached closely to, as that which can not be evaded.
  • * Fuller
  • Nevertheless his bond of two thousand pounds, wherewith he was tailed , continued uncancelled.
  • To pull or draw by the tail.
  • (Hudibras)

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl), probably from a shortened form of entail .

    Adjective

  • (legal) Limited; abridged; reduced; curtailed.
  • estate tail

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (legal) Limitation of inheritance to certain heirs.
  • tail male — limitation to male heirs
    in tail — subject to such a limitation

    Anagrams

    * ----

    lie

    English

    (wikipedia lie)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) (m), (m), from (etyl) (m), from (etyl) . As a noun for position, the .

    Verb

  • (label) To rest in a horizontal position on a surface.
  • * (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • The watchful traveller / Lay down again, and closed his weary eyes.
  • * 1849 , (Henry David Thoreau), (A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers)
  • Our uninquiring corpses lie more low / Than our life's curiosity doth go.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1892, author=(James Yoxall)
  • , chapter=5, title= The Lonely Pyramid , passage=The desert storm was riding in its strength; the travellers lay beneath the mastery of the fell simoom. Whirling wreaths and columns of burning wind, rushed around and over them.}}
  • (label) To be placed or situated.
  • *
  • Hepaticology, outside the temperate parts of the Northern Hemisphere, still lies deep in the shadow cast by that ultimate "closet taxonomist," Franz Stephani—a ghost whose shadow falls over us all.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-08, volume=407, issue=8839, page=52, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The new masters and commanders , passage=From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. Those entering it are greeted by wire fences, walls dating back to colonial times and security posts. For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.}}
  • To abide; to remain for a longer or shorter time; to be in a certain state or condition.
  • To be or exist; to belong or pertain; to have an abiding place; to consist; used with in .
  • * (Arthur Collier) (1680-1732)
  • Envy lies between beings equal in nature, though unequal in circumstances.
  • * (John Locke) (1632-1705)
  • He that thinks that diversion may not lie in hard labour, forgets the early rising and hard riding of huntsmen.
  • (label) To lodge; to sleep.
  • * (John Evelyn) (1620-1706)
  • While I was now trifling at home, I saw London, where I lay one night only.
  • * (Charles Dickens) (1812-1870)
  • Mr. Quinion lay at our house that night.
  • To be still or quiet, like one lying down to rest.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • The wind is loud and will not lie .
  • (label) To be sustainable; to be capable of being maintained.
  • * Ch. J. Parsons
  • An appeal lies in this case.
    Derived terms
    * a lie has no legs * let sleeping dogs lie * lie back * lie by * lie doggo * lie down * lie ill in one's mouth * lie in * lie-in * lie in wait * lie low * lie upon * lie with * make one's bed and lie in it * therein lies the rub

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (golf) The terrain and conditions surrounding the ball before it is struck.
  • (medicine) The position of a fetus in the womb.
  • Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Verb

  • To give false information intentionally.
  • When Pinocchio lies , his nose grows.
    If you are found to have lied in court, you could face a penalty.
    While a principle-based approach might claim that lying''' is always morally wrong, the casuist would argue that, depending upon the details of the case, '''lying''' might or might not be illegal or unethical. The casuist might conclude that a person is wrong to '''lie''' in legal testimony under oath, but might argue that '''lying actually is the best moral choice if the lie saves a life. (w)
  • To convey a false image or impression.
  • Photos often lie .
    Hips don't lie .
    Derived terms
    * lie through one's teeth

    Etymology 3

    From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An intentionally false statement; an intentional falsehood.
  • I knew he was telling a lie by his facial expression.
  • A statement intended to deceive, even if literally true; a half-truth
  • Anything that misleads or disappoints.
  • * (rfdate) Trench:
  • Wishing this lie of life was o'er.
    Synonyms
    * bullshit * deception * falsehood * fib * leasing * prevarication
    Antonyms
    * truth
    Derived terms
    * barefaced lie * belie * big lie * give lie to * give the lie to * I tell a lie * lie detector * * white lie

    Statistics

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