rat-tailn.
/ˈratteɪl/, U.S. /ˈrætˌteɪl/ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of horses > [noun] > disorders of legs > skin disorders
mallender1440
millets?1523
sallender?1523
rat's tails1566
arrest1639
rat-tails1696
1696 W. Hope tr. J. de Solleysel Compl. Horseman ii. clxxx. 287 The Hair falling off discovers very callous and rough Tumours, which are call'd Ratt-Tails, from the Resemblance of their Figure.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Rat-tails, or Arrests, in the manege, signify callous hard swellings upon the hinder legs under the hough, running along the sinew.
1789 H. Bracken Farriery Improved (new ed.) II. i. 5 Such Horses have what we call a fleshy Leg, and are therefore more subject to..what the Farriers term Rat-tails.
1831 W. Youatt Horse xii. 275 On the back part of the leg..are sometimes excrescences, called by farriers rat-tails, from the appearance they give the hair.
2.
a. Esp. on a horse or dog: a tail resembling that of a rat, typically in being bare or more sparsely-haired than usual. Also: a horse having such a tail. Sometimes attributive: = rat-tailed adj. 1.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > body or parts of horse > [noun] > tail > types of
broom1600
broom-tail1684
hunting tail1686
rat-tail1705
whip tail1709
flagtail1852
bang-tail1870
1705 London Gaz. No. 4086/4 A black Horse.., with a Rat Tail.
1787 ‘G. Gambado’ Acad. Horsemen 10 Buy a horse with a rat tail, if possible.
1822 Examiner 232/2 Dr. Ph-ll-m-re, very light, a feather, took the field on his new rat-tail mare.
1873 R. E. Egerton-Warburton Hunting Songs (new ed.) 114 Now Hornby went crashing through bullfinch and rail With Brancker beside him on Murray's rat tail.
1897 Outing 29 540/1 I like his [sc. a pointer's] clean-cut appearance, his rat-tail, his style in the field.
1936 R. F. Adams Cowboy Lingo viii. 82 A horse having a tail with but little hair was called a ‘rat-tail’.
1989 Conservation Biol. 3 315/1 The ‘rat tail’ (tail with very short wool) is relatively common in these [feral] sheep.
2002 J. Cunliffe Encycl. Dog Breeds (new ed.) 39/1 An Irish water spaniel has a typical rat tail.
2003 D. P. Sponenberg Equine Color Genetics (ed. 2) v. 90 Many horses with patterns of this complex have full manes and tails, and the exact relationship between the leopard complex and the rat tail is uncertain.
b. Any of several diseases or disorders of animals (in later use esp. of cattle) causing loss of hair from the tail.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of cattle > [noun] > other disorders of cattle
murrainc1450
gall1577
gargyse1577
sprenges1577
wisp1577
closh1587
milting1587
moltlong1587
hammer1600
mallet1600
scurvy1604
wither1648
speed1704
nostril dropping1708
bladdera1722
heartsick1725
throstling1726
striking1776
feather-cling1799
hollow-horn1805
weed1811
blood striking1815
the slows1822
toad-bit1825
coast-fever1840
horn-distemper1843
rat's tail1847
whethering1847
milk fever1860
milt-sickness1867
pearl tumour1872
actinomycosis1877
pearl disease1877
rat-tail1880
lumpy jaw1891
niatism1895
cripple1897
rumenitis1897
Rhodesian fever1903
reticulitis1905
barbone1907
contagious abortion1910
trichomoniasis1915
shipping fever1932
New Forest disease1954
bovine spongiform encephalopathy1987
BSE1987
mad cow disease1988
East Coast fever2009
1880 J. R. Manning Illustr. Stock Doctor ii. i. 186 Rat-tail, loss of the hair of the tail.
1980 Jrnl. Amer. Vet. Med. Assoc. 176 544/1 Loss of the switch gives the affected animals [sc. cattle affected with sarcocystosis] a ‘rat-tail’ appearance.]
1999 Jrnl. Animal Sci. 77 1144 A form of congenital hypotrichosis, commonly known as the ‘rat-tail’ syndrome, occurs in a small percentage of calves produced by crossing some Continental cattle breeds with cattle that are black in color.
3. Any of various things resembling a rat's tail.
a. Chiefly in plural. A lank lock of hair. Cf. rat's tail n. 2a.Earliest in rat-tail hair n. at Compounds 1.
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the world > life > the body > hair > hair of head > lock or locks > [noun]
lockeOE
forelockc1000
hair-lockc1000
earlockOE
foretopc1290
tressc1290
lachterc1375
fuke1483
sidelock1530
proudfallc1540
widow's locka1543
folding1552
fore-bush1591
flake1592
witch knot1598
tuft1603
French lock1614
head-lock1642
witch-lock1682
rat's tail1706
side-curl1749
scalp knot1805
rat-tail1823
straggler1825
scalping-tuft1826
scalp-lock1827
aggravator1835
soap-lock1840
payess1845
stringleta1852
list1859
tresslet1882
drake's tail1938
1709 E. Ward Hudibras Redivivus (ed. 2) I. v. 11 Their sweaty Rat-tail Hair hung down To th' Shoulders from each addl'd Crown.
1823 I. Pocock Nigel iv. ii. 73 Twirling thine inky fingers Athwart the rat tails of that oily hair.
1865 S. Pancoast Ladies' Med. Guide (ed. 6) iii. iii. 474 The least moisture will cause it to hang in what children not inaptly call ‘rat tails’.
1977 J. Wainwright Day of Peppercorn Kill 121 The woman's hair was in sodden rat-tails... Her shoes squelched water.
1996 C. J. Stone Fierce Dancing ix. 141 At this point in time, Rick had his head shaved patchily on one side, while the hair on the other side dangled in greasy rat-tails.
b. Short for rat-tail file n. at Compounds 2. Cf. rat's tail n. 2b.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > shaping tools or equipment > file > [noun] > fine
smooth-file1678
rat-tail file1744
rat's tail file1777
rat-tail1820
rat-tail rasp1827
rat's taila1830
Swiss file1960
dead-file-
1820 G. Simpson Jrnl. Occurr. in Athabasca Dept. (1938) 150 Files... rat tail.
1861 T. Winthrop John Brent xxvi. 283 Trust him to gnaw himself free with that Connecticut rat-tail.
1978 A. P. Balder Sport Diving 309 Files..1 rat-tail.
1999 Canberra Times (Nexis) 12 June 25 A bastard-cut file, a smooth cut and a dead smooth file are needed as well as many smaller ones—the pillar, pottance.., rat-tail.
c. Any of various plants having long thin parts; (also) a long thin part of a plant.
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the world > plants > part of plant > part defined by form or function > [noun] > parts of specific shape
finger?a1425
saucer1578
umbrella1658
neck1673
discus1687
cord1776
wing1776
starlet1787
ribbon1854
rat-tail1871
peltation1881
rod1884
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > names applied to various plants > [noun]
heatha700
beeworteOE
leversc725
springworteOE
clotec1000
halswortc1000
sengreenc1000
bottle?a1200
bird's-tonguea1300
bloodworta1300
faverolea1300
vetchc1300
pimpernel1378
oniona1398
bird's nest?a1425
adder's grassc1450
cockheada1500
ambrosia1525
fleawort1548
son before the father1552
crow-toe1562
basil1578
bird's-foot1578
bloodroot1578
throatwort1578
phalangium1608
yew1653
chalcedon1664
dittany1676
bleeding heart1691
felon-wort1706
hedgehog1712
land caltrops1727
old man's beard1731
loosestrife1760
Solomon's seal1760
fireweed1764
desert rose1792
star of Bethlehem1793
hen and chickens1794
Aaron's beard1820
felon-grass1824
arrowroot1835
snake-root1856
firebush1858
tick-seed1860
bird's eye1863
burning bush1866
rat-tail1871
lamb's earsa1876
lamb's tongue plant1882
tar-weed1884
Tom Thumb1886
parrotbeak1890
stinkweed1932
1871 C. Kingsley At Last II. xi. 101 Their rat-tails of small green flowers prove them to be peppers.
1956 Cactus & Succulent Jrnl. Great Brit. 18 34 Though they should grow quite easily and well on their own roots, forming large, many stemmed plants, the ‘Rat tails’ are sometimes found to be contrary.
2004 Backwoods Home Mag. July–Aug. 43/2 Plantain is not a handsome herb... The flowers bloom on a single stem, which stand out above the foliage giving it another, less-romantic nickname, ‘rat tail’.
2006 D. Bassett & S. Bassett Delphiniums 70 Unsatisfactory features of the flowers, such as..flowerless ‘rat-tails’ at the top of the spike, proved very persistent faults.
d. A tail-like extension from the handle to the back of the bowl of a spoon; a spoon having this feature. Cf. rat-tailed adj. 2a.
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the world > food and drink > food > setting table > table utensils > [noun] > cutlery > spoon > of specific design
maidenhead1495
fiddle-pattern1865
rat-tail1891
1891 W. J. Cripps Old Eng. Plate (ed. 4) x. 231 Transition spoons with the Hanoverian handle, but the strengthening drop and not the rat-tail at the back of the bowls, appear in 1754 and 1762.
1912 Bull. Metrop. Mus. Art 7 61/2 All four of the mugs..have beaded rat-tails down the handles.
1936 Burlington Mag. Apr. 180/2 The only surviving silver spoons are six in number. Two have..plain pointed rat-tails on the bowls.
1974 Country Life 14 Nov. 1447/1 Spoons ranging from 1661 to 1718..include..split-ended rat-tails or treffid spoons.
2001 Daily Tel. 24 July 23/6 (advt.) An echo of their ancient origin when bowls [of spoons] were made separately and joined securely with the rat-tail to the handle.
4. Any of various fishes with a long, tapering tail, esp. a grenadier (family Macrouridae). Also rat-tail fish.
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the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > superorder Paracanthopterygii > order Gadiformes (cod) > [noun] > member of family Macruridae (rat-tail)
rat-tail1882
macrourid1936
1882 D. S. Jordan & C. H. Gilbert Synopsis Fishes N. Amer. 811 M. fabricii Sundevall.—Rat-tail; Grenadier.
1905 D. S. Jordan Guide Study of Fishes I. xii. 209 In the deep-sea allies of the codfishes, the grenadiers or rat-tails (Macrouridæ), the numbers [of vertebrae] range from 65 to 80.
1928 F. S. Russell & C. M. Yonge Seas iv. 91 That curious fish of the cod family known as the Macrurus or rat-tail..spends the greater part of its life in the cold dark depths over the abyssal plain.
1969 A. Wheeler Fishes Brit. Isles & N.-W. Europe 112 Rabbit-fish (Rat-tail, Rat-fish) Chimaera monstrosa.
1975 Sci. Amer. Oct. 86/3 The bait was visited by only a few eelpouts, brotulids and rattail fish (grenadiers).
1993 Guardian 24 June ii. 14/1 The..[baited] transponder..is swiftly gobbled up by Coryphaenoides armatus, aka the grenadier or rattail, then tracked.
Compounds
C1.
rat-tail hair n.
ΚΠ
1709Rat-tail hair [see sense 3a].
1801 C. K. Sharpe Corr. 12 Jan. (1888) I. 103 The clowns with lank rat-tail hair.
1936 Hammond (Indiana) Times 18 Jan. 5/5 On those nights we'd..comb up our rat-tail hair a little more carefully,..and sit before the fire..waiting for come-who-may.
2007 Observer (Nexis) 1 Apr. (Review section) 6 The style—..the Doc Martens Air Wear shoes and boots, the rat-tail hair and miniskirt for girls—derived directly from the gang end of the mod movement.
rat-tail moustache n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > styles of hair > [noun] > styles of moustache
rat-tail moustache1871
burnside1875
handlebar1888
Kaiser moustache1900
Kaiser Wilhelm moustache1901
toothbrush moustache1904
doormat1909
Kaiser Bill moustache1910
Old Bill moustache1915
cookie-duster1918
walrus moustache1918
Hitler1930
walrus whiskers1930
soup-strainer1932
pencil line1934
pencil moustache1961
Zapata1968
1871 T. North Five Years in Texas 105 He preferred red-top boots, and a greased rat-tail moustache.
1998 Calgary (Alberta) Herald (Nexis) 20 Sept. f4 The trash/class maestro..possesses a rat-tail moustache and a good line for every question.
C2.
rat-tail cactus n. a Mexican cactus, Disocactus flagelliformis, having slender, creeping or trailing, spiny stems bearing crimson flowers, often cultivated as an ornamental.
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the world > plants > particular plants > cactus and allies > [noun] > other cacti
hedgehog thistle1597
Opuntia1601
mescal1709
Barbados gooseberry1756
night-flowering cereus1789
vygebosch1795
night-blooming cereus1799
rhipsalis1819
pigface1830
window plant1838
old man cactus1845
cholla1846
fish-hook cactus1846
spleenwort1846
epiphyllum1858
old man's head1858
rainbow cactus1860
green snake1864
torchwood1866
queen of the night1870
vingerpol1875
nipple cactus1876
niggerhead1877
rat's tail cactus1878
rat-tail cactus1878
Christmas cactus1880
barrel cactus1881
peyote1885
mistletoe cactus1889
schlumbergera1898
pincushion1940
opuntioid1944
1878 Amer. Naturalist 12 467 Potting two plants of the deer's tongue and rat-tail cactus.
1972 F. Perry Flowers of World 60/1 Aporocactus flagelliformis, the Rat-tail Cactus, is well named for the long flexible stems..hang down all round the plant. They are covered with bristly hairs and carry masses of crimson flowers.
1997 News (Frederick, Maryland) 23 Jan. b6/1 Grafting..is a way you can create a plant of unusual form—the tall stem of a columnar cactus topped by trailing stems of a rattail cactus for example.
rat-tail comb n. a comb with a long tapering handle at one end.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > implements used in styling the hair > [noun] > comb
comba700
pocket-tortoise1687
whisk-comb1688
dressing comb1782
tail comb1782
rake-comb1790
reding comb1795
fine-tooth comb1852
hackle1903
rat-tail comb1937
rake1966
Afro pick1971
pick1972
detangler1984
1937 Oakland (Calif.) Tribune 21 Sept. 1/9 (advt.) Free rat tail comb with every permanent.
1978 Chatelaine (Canada) Dec. 67/1 Tuck ends in with a rat-tail comb.
1994 B. N. Robinson in D. McKay Fiddlehead 64 He..had a pink rat-tail comb the size of a small rake.
rat-tail file n. a fine round tapering file used for enlarging holes in metal, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > shaping tools or equipment > file > [noun] > fine
smooth-file1678
rat-tail file1744
rat's tail file1777
rat-tail1820
rat-tail rasp1827
rat's taila1830
Swiss file1960
dead-file-
1744 in Maryland Hist. Mag. (1926) 21 251 6 Ratt Tale Files.
1846 C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. II. 824 Small taper round files are often called rat-tail files.
1866 Harvard Memor. Biogr., S. Willet I. 267 A rat-tail file..would render useless in a moment a superb piece of ordnance.
1945 Sun (Baltimore) 30 Jan. 6-0/3 It was made in 1898 from a rat-tail file which had been used in a bicycle factory.
2002 P. Miles Robot Sumo v. 81 With a small diameter rat-tail file, file the groove into the edge of the disk.
rat-tail fish n. see sense 4.
rat-tail grass n. any of several grasses with long narrow inflorescences, occurring in pastures; esp. (in later use) those of the genus Sporobolus.
ΚΠ
1861 A. Wood Class Bk. Bot. iv. 806 Rottbœllia... Rat-tail Grass. Spikelets in pairs at each joint of a terete.
1889 J. H. Maiden Useful Native Plants Austral. 109 Rat-tail grass. A fine, open, pasture grass [etc.].
1947 Condor 49 111 Sporobolis capensis. Rattail grass... Abundant along roads and on grazed land.
1970 A. T. Semple Grassland Improvem. xi. 248 The undesirable rat-tail grass (Sporobolus capensis) can be controlled, as cattle will eat it when it is coarse.
2000 Forest Ecol. & Managem. 126 14/2 At the time of planting the ground cover was a 3-inch sod layer of kikuyu grass.., rattail grass (Sporobolus capensis..), and gorse.
rat-tail hinge n. a type of hinge having the pin extended to form a long ‘tail’ which is secured upon the lintel, side post, etc.
ΚΠ
1924 W. Nutting Furnit. Pilgrim Cent. 678 The two examples at the left are variants of the so-called rat-tail hinge.
1973 New Yorker 3 Feb. 49/1 It had a double raised panel in the door, marvellous rattail hinges, and exquisite details in the wood.
1996 Gazette (Montreal) (Nexis) 23 June c5 A stunning corner cupboard with diamond-point panelling and rattail hinges, found in an antique store in Acton Vale.
rat-tail maggot n. a rat-tailed fly larva (see rat-tailed adj. 1b).Quot. 1797 represents an inaccurate transcription of quot. 1768 at rat-tailed adj. 1b.
ΚΠ
1797 R. Polwhele Hist. Devonshire I. ix. 124 (note) Blowing flies and humble bees that come from the rat-tail maggot in gutters.
1873 Chambers's Encycl. VIII. 122/1 Rat-tail maggot, the larva of a dipterous insect, Eristalis tenax.
1973 Trans. Amer. Microsc. Soc. 92 5 Some macroinvertebrates are more tolerant than others to pollution. The most resistant include..the rat-tail maggot Eristalis tenax.
rat-tail radish n. = rat-tailed radish at rat-tailed adj. Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1858 Chambers's Information for People (new ed.) I. 537/1 It is called the Rat-tail Radish, and the edible part or ‘radish’ is not the root, but the seed-pod in a green state.
1918 J. J. Taubenhaus Dis. Truck Crops & their Control 212 Melhus had no trouble in infecting the rat-tail radish (Raphanus caudatus) with conidia taken from ordinary radish.
2006 Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) (Nexis) 18 Feb. d3 I found the Rat Tail radishes quite interesting. Described as a non-root-producing variety with slender 4- to 12-inch edible seedpods, the dark purple pods are hot, spicy and pungent.
rat-tail rasp n. = rat-tail file n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > shaping tools or equipment > file > [noun] > fine
smooth-file1678
rat-tail file1744
rat's tail file1777
rat-tail1820
rat-tail rasp1827
rat's taila1830
Swiss file1960
dead-file-
1827 M. Faraday Chem. Manip. ii. 43 A temporary stand is easily made out of a cork, by piercing a hole through it with a rat-tail rasp.
2002 C. DeKorne Trim Carpentry 57 To fine-tune the cut, don't be shy about employing a host of other tools, such as a rat-tail rasp, a piece of sandpaper, and even a utility knife.
rat-tail silver adj. and n. (a) adj. designating (a piece of) cutlery or silverware, esp. a spoon, having a rat-tail (cf. sense 3d); (b) n. such cutlery or silverware.
ΚΠ
1883 Times 15 Jan. 16/5 (advt.) Six rat tail silver spoons.
1894 Times 14 Apr. 17/2 (advt.) Service of rat-tail silver.
1904 Daily Chron. 20 July 5/6 The bride's father presented her with a superb tiara of diamonds and pearls, and a canteen of rat-tail silver.
2007 Western Morning News (Plymouth) (Nexis) 10 Feb. 4 A fine George II rat tail silver table spoon by William Petly, London, 1728 is offered by Argenta Antiques at £60.
rat-tail spoon n. a spoon having a rat-tail (sense 3d).
ΚΠ
1883 W. Chaffers Hall Marks Gold & Silver Plate (ed. 6) 137 On rat-tail spoons of the latter half of the 17th century all the four marks were placed on the back of the stems.
1925 S. T. Warner Espalier 77 The rat-tail spoons, The china dishes.
2006 Decorative Arts Auction Catal. (Heritage Auction Galleries, Dallas) 24 May 43 (caption) Six English silver spoons... The six rat-tail spoons each with a crest to the reverse tip of the handle.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1696- high-viced
- high-vis
- high-visibility
- high-wage
- high-waisted
- high-walled
- high-water mark
- high-wheeled
- high-wheeler
- high-witted
- high-wrought
- high-yield
- high-yielding
- high-zoned
- highaccuracy
- highaction
- highaffinity
- highaimed
- highaiming
- highaltitude
- highamplitude
- highangle
- highangled
- higharched
- highaspiring