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Tail vs Mail - What's the difference?

tail | mail |

As nouns the difference between tail and mail

is that tail is while mail 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

    * ----

    mail

    English

    (wikipedia mail)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) male, (etyl) . Compare Dutch maal.

    Noun

  • *1499 , (John Skelton), The Bowge of Courte :
  • *:What, loo, man, see here of dyce a bale; / A brydelynge caste for that is in thy male !
  • A bag containing letters to be delivered by post.
  • The material conveyed by the postal service.
  • :
  • *1823 , The stranger in Liverpool; or, An historical and descriptive view of the town of Liverpool and its environs] , Seventh Edition, T. Kaye, [http://books.google.com/books?id=FsQHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA96 page 96,
  • *:The following are the hours at which the letter-box of this office is closed for making up the several mails', and the hours at which each ' mail is despatched: ¶
  • *1887 , John Houston Merrill (editor), The American and English Encyclopædia of Law] , Volume I, Edward Thompson, [http://books.google.com/books?id=75ENAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA121 p.121,
    • If he retains the account, and permits several mails to pass without objecting to it, he will be held to have admitted its correctness.
  • *
  • *:There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy. Mail bags, so I understand, are being put on board. Stewards, carrying cabin trunks, swarm in the corridors. Passengers wander restlessly about or hurry, with futile energy, from place to place.
  • (lb) A stagecoach, train or ship that delivers such post.
  • The postal service or system in general.
  • :
  • (lb) Electronic mail, e-mail: a computer network–based service for sending, storing, and forwarding electronic messages.
  • A trunk, box, or bag, in which clothing, etc., may be carried.
  • :(Sir Walter Scott)

    • Usage notes

    In the United States, mails (plural) can mean "the postal system".
    Synonyms
    * (postal system) post (UK, Ireland, other dialects?)
    Derived terms
    {{der3, accountable mail , air mail , carry the mail , chain mail , e-mail , email , electronic mail , fan mail , hate mail , junk mail , mailbag , mail boat , mail bomb , mailbox , mail call , mail carrier , mail fraud , mailman , mailmerge , mail order , mail plane , mail relay , mailroom , mail slot , mail stop , mail train , mail truck , mails , snail mail , surface mail , voice mail , vote-by-mail , webmail}}

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (label) To send (a letter, parcel, etc.) through the mail.
  • (label) To send by electronic mail.
    • Please mail me the spreadsheet by the end of the day.
  • * 1983 , "Donn Seeley", Source for 'Grab' '' (on newsgroup ''net.unix-wizards )
    • There has been a crackdown on non-ARPA use of a local ARPA gateway, so I am reluctant to attempt to mail the file to ARPA sites.
  • * 1998 , "Michael Tomsett", Re: Multiple postings?'' (on newsgroup ''alt.music.manics )
    • Since .mp3's are so big (well for me with a 33.6kp/s connection they are anyway) maybe you should offer on your site to mail the file to people who want it, and have them request it, thus saving your web space, your upload time and their download time
  • * 2003 , "Chrissy", Re: Send mail with attachment'' (on newsgroup ''microsoft.public.excel.programming )
    • If you mail an attachment from one mail client then it does not matter if the receiver uses a different mail client. The mail you send should be able to be read from their mail client.
  • (label) To contact (a person) by electronic mail.
    • I need to mail my tutor about the deadline.
  • * 2000 , "Carlton Alton Deltree", Whoever did this sucks...'' (on newsgroup ''alt.comp.virus )
    • I was horrified but my data was OK. Then, it saw it open my e-mail package and start to mail my friends. I turned the power off.
  • * 2002 , Jessica Mann, The voice from the grave , page 189:
    • 'Yes, at Quantico. She was so excited by it, she sent all those emails, you remember I told you about it -' 'Yes, she mailed me from there too.'
  • * 2011 , Rose Budworth-Levine, Intimate Encounters , page 41:
    • He mailed me and said he had managed to hack into my email accounts.
    Synonyms
    * (send through the mail) post
    Derived terms
    {{der3, mailer , mailing}}

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Alternative forms

    * maille

    Noun

    (-)
  • (label) Armour consisting of metal rings or plates linked together.
  • (label) A contrivance of interlinked rings, for rubbing off the loose hemp on lines and white cordage.
  • Any hard protective covering of an animal, as the scales and plates of reptiles, shell of a lobster, etc.
  • * (rfdate) John Gay:
    • We strip the lobster of his scarlet mail .
  • A spot on a bird's feather; by extension, a spotted feather.
  • * 1653 , Izaak Walton, The Compleat Angler :
    • the moorish-fly; made with the body of duskish wool; and the wings made of the blackish mail of the drake
    Derived terms
    {{der3, chain mail , plate mail , scale mail , mailed , mailler}}

    Related terms

    * mailed

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (label) To arm with mail.
  • (label) To pinion.

    • Etymology 3

    (etyl) mal, male from (etyl) .

    Alternative forms

    * maile * maill * maille

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A monetary payment or tribute.
  • Rent.
  • Tax.
    • Derived terms
    {{der3, blackmail , mails and duties}}

    Anagrams

    * ----