ringtailn.
/ˈrɪŋteɪl/, U.S. /ˈrɪŋˌteɪl/ 1. A type of bird with a distinctive banded tail.† b. An immature golden eagle ( Aquila chrysaetos) before its third year, when it has a white tail with a broad black tip. Cf. ringtail eagle n. at Compounds 3. Obsolete.Formerly regarded as a distinct species.
a. Any of several very similar female and juvenile harriers, esp. of the hen harrier ( Circus cyaneus) and Montagu's harrier ( C. pygargus), which are chiefly brown with a white rump and several dark bands across the tail.Formerly regarded as a distinct species.In quot. 1622: figurative.
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the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > genus Circus (harrier) > circus cynaeus (hen-harrier) > female
ringtail1538
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Pygargus..is also a byrde lyke to a hawke, hauynge a whyte tayle: I suppose hym to be that which we call a rynge tayle.
1575 G. Turberville Bk. Faulconrie 55 There are two foules, wherof the one is called (Ian le blancke) which I take to be the Harrohen or capped Kyte, and the other (Blanch queue) the ring tayle.
1609 Bible (Douay) I. Deut. xiiii. 13 The osprey, the ringtaile, and the vulture.
1622 F. Beaumont & J. Fletcher Phylaster (new ed.) v. 71 Thou royall Ring-taile, fit to flie at nothing But poore mens Poultry.
1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. 72 Of the Ring-tail, the Male whereof is called the Henharrier.
1766 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. ii. 68 The Ringtail weighs..sixteen ounces.
1794 W. Hutchinson Hist. Cumberland I. 5/2 I have never seen two ringtails attend the same nest, and I..invariably found each nest frequented by the henharrier and ringtail.
1808 Montagu in Linnæan Trans. 9 185 The new feathers..clearly evinced the smallest bird to be a Hen Harrier, and the larger a Ringtail.
1880 A. Newton in Encycl. Brit. XI. 492/1 It was not until after Montagu's observations were published..that the ‘Ringtail’..was generally admitted to be the female of the ‘Hen-Harrier’.
1940 H. F. Witherby et al. Handbk. Brit. Birds III. 61 Identification of solitary ‘ring-tails’ by build alone is not to be commended.
2006 Bird Watching Aug. 31/1 Females and juvenile Hen and Montagu's Harriers are often called ‘ringtails’ because..they have a series of bands along their tails, as well as a white rump.
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the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > eagles > genus Aquila > aquila chrysaetos (golden eagle) > before its third year
ringtail eagle1766
ringtail1810
1795 R. Warner Hist. Isle of Wight 227 It is probable the parent bird had come from the Northern parts of Wales..; since the offspring appeared to be of the ringtail species.]
1810 Scots Mag. Aug. 599/2 The ringtail (F. fulvus) in several respects resembles the golden eagle (F. chrysaetos).
1828 J. Fleming Hist. Brit. Animals 53 In the opinion of some, the ringtail is considered as a distinct species; but the facts..demonstrate its connection with the Golden Eagle.
1838 Penny Cycl. X. 173/1 Many other authors mention the eagle and ring-tails in such terms as to leave the identity of the bird almost unquestionable.
1895 R. Lydekker Royal Nat. Hist. IV. xii. 225 In this state the bird [sc. golden eagle] is termed a ‘ring-tail’.
2. Nautical. A type of sail (see quots. 1769, 1846). Now chiefly historical.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > sail > [noun] > extra sail set on gaff
ringtail1769
ringtail sail1769
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > sail > [noun] > sails set near stern > specific
driver1750
ringtail1769
spanker1794
storm mizzen1794
jigger1831
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Ring-tail, a small triangular sail, extended on a little mast, which is occasionally erected for that purpose on the top of a ship's stern... Ring-tail is also a name given to a sort of studding-sail, hoisted beyond the after-edge, or skirt of those main-sails which are extended by a boom and gaff.
1804 A. Duncan Mariner's Chron. Pref. p. xii The studding-sails, drivers, ring-tails, and all those sails which are set occasionally.
1846 A. Young Naut. Dict. Ring-Tail, a small sail shaped like a jib, set occasionally in light winds; it is hoisted on the outer end of the main or spanker gaff.
1916 P. B. Kyne Cappy Ricks iii. 20 The captain saw his opening and struck. ‘What's the ring-tail?’ he demanded.
1934 P. Mitchell Deep Water i. xxiii. 184 They..had..Jamie Greens for under the jib boom, ringtails, watersails, and an extra flying jib.
1990 Meridian (Midland Group) Spring 34/1 There were topsails and ballooners, watersails and ringtails—a vast wardrobe of sails that drove them along at breakneck speed.
3.
a. Australian. = ringtail possum n. at Compounds 4. Frequently with distinguishing word.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Implacenta > subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) > [noun] > family Phalangeridae (phalanger) > other types of
cuscus1775
vulpine opossum or phalanger1789
ring-tailed opossum1803
ringtail possum1825
ringtail1831
ringtail opossum1831
ursine phalanger1839
mongan1889
Leadbeater's possum1937
ring-tailed possum1941
1831 Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 1 32 Thus they procure opossums... There are two species, one, the common ring-tail (Nworra), and the other, comal.
1887 Illustr. Austral. News 21 Dec. 218/1 Two varieties of opossum are found, the ring-tail and brush-tail.
1943 Austral. Animal Bk. 71 The rock-haunting ringtail (Petropseudo dahli)..lives among granite formations in the Northern Territory.
1970 W. D. L. Ride Guide Native Mammals Austral. 74 Ringtails are not as large as the larger possums.
1996 Biotropica 28 311/2 This guild includes..three species of tropical ringtail possum, the green ringtail.., Herbert River ringtail..and lemuroid ringtail.
b. U.S. = ring-tailed cat n. at ring-tailed adj. Compounds 1. Cf. ringtail cat n. at Compounds 3.In quot. 1844: (perhaps) the raccoon, Procyon lotor.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Procyonidae (raccoons) > [noun] > member of
ringtail1844
procyonid1895
1844 Daily Picayune (New Orleans) 30 Sept. 257/5 It aided the fun not a little to see the mischievous monkey..bite into his arm, and hang on like a ‘ring-tail’ to a bough.
1937 J. Grinnell et al. Fur-bearing Mammals Calif. I. 172 The animal has been called in California ‘civet-cat’, ‘coon cat’, ‘band-tailed cat’, ‘miner's cat’, ‘ring-tail’, and ‘coon-fox’.
1984 D. Macdonald Encycl. Mammals II. 107 The ringtail is a graceful carnivore which was often reared as a companion and mouser in prospectors' camps.
2003 New Mexico Mag. Oct. 28 I see a troupe of what look like ringtailed lemurs... Of course, they aren't really lemurs, but a critter called a ringtail or cacomistle.
4. In form ring tail. A dog's tail which is curled upwards so as to form nearly a complete circle.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Canidae > dog > [noun] > parts of > (parts of) tail
trundle-taila1640
whip tail1709
screw-tail1820
ringtail1871
worm1877
otter tail1932
1871 J. H. Walsh Brit. Rural Sports (ed. 7) 663/1 I prefer a tail of a moderate length, decidedly objecting to a long tail having a curve at the end, commonly called the ‘ring tail’.
1961 J. Lanning Great Danes viii. 73 Ring tails are a hereditary fault and were common at one time.
2002 J. Cunliffe Encycl. Dog Breeds (new ed.) 39/2 A ring tail, or ringed tail, usually indicates a long tail in which either all or part of the tail forms a ring.
5. U.S. slang. A worthless or contemptible person (in early use esp. among hoboes); spec. (a) a Japanese person; (b) (in African-American use) a person from the Caribbean. Now rare.
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society > morality > moral evil > evil nature or character > lack of magnanimity or noble-mindedness > [noun] > worthlessness > good-for-nothing person
brethelingc1275
filec1300
dogc1330
ribald1340
waynouna1350
waster1352
lorel1362
losel1362
land-leaper1377
triflera1382
brothelc1390
javelc1400
leftc1400
lorerc1400
shackerellc1420
brethel1440
never-thrift1440
vagrant1444
ne'er-thrifta1450
never-thrivinga1450
nebulona1475
breelc1485
naughty pack?1534
brathel1542
carrion1547
slim1548
unsel155.
pelf1551
shifterc1562
rag1566
wandrel?1567
land-loper1570
nothing-worth1580
baggage1594
roly-poly1602
bash-rag1603
arrant1605
ragabash?1609
flabergullion1611
hilding1611
hard bargain1612
slubberdegullion1612
vauneant1621
knick-knacker1622
idle-pack1624
slabberdegullion1653
thimble-maker1654
whiffler1659
never-do-well1664
good-for-nought1671
ne'er-be-good1675
shack1682
vagabond1686
shabaroon1699
shag-bag1699
houndsfoot1710
ne'er-do-well1737
trumpery1738
rap1742
hallion1789
scamp1808
waffie1808
ne'er-do-good1814
vaurien1829
sculpin1834
shicer1846
good-for-nothing1847
wastrel1847
scallywag1848
shack-bag1855
beat1865
toe-rag1875
rodney1877
toe-ragger1896
low-lifer1902
punk1904
lowlife1909
ringtail1916
git1939
no-hoper1944
schlub1950
piss artist1962
dead leg1964
1916 Editor 6 May 487/2 Ring-tail, Blanket Stiffs use this expression in referring to men who carry no bed but curl around the campfire when sleeping.
1931 ‘D. Stiff’ Milk & Honey Route 205 He [sc. an unpopular fellow] is also a ring tail. Such hobos are often under suspicion.
1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 98/1 Ring tail, an ignorant, loud mouthed, vulgar person.
1940 Railroad Mag. Apr. 51/1 Ringtail, ultra-ragged bum; a hobo so helpless or low in the scale that he will beg from fellow vagrants.
1942 F. Raymond Fighting Talk (at cited word) Ring-tail, Jap.
1943 P. Sturges Hail Conquering Hero in Best Film Plays 1943–1944 (1945) 604/1 Just shoot 'em some bull about how you was in a hot spot with your foot caught in a gizmo and the ringtails [sc. Japanese soldiers] is comin' from all sides.
1947 Amer. Speech 22 214 In the Pacific Theater..the sobriquets applied to the Japanese were particularly hateful, as ringtails, yellow bastards, and a host of unprintables.
1966 G. Osofsky Harlem: Making of Ghetto 134 [West Indians] were taunted with such epithets as ‘monkey-chaser’, ‘ringtale’ [sic], [etc.].
6. Australian slang. A coward. Now rare.
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the mind > emotion > fear > cowardice or pusillanimity > [noun] > coward(s)
coward?a1289
hen-hearta1450
staniel?a1500
pigeon?1571
cow1581
quake-breech1584
cow-baby1594
custard1598
chicken heart1602
nidget1605
hen?1613
faintling1614
white-liver1614
chickena1616
quake-buttocka1627
skitterbrooka1652
dunghill1761
cow-heart1768
shy-cock1768
fugie1777
slag1788
man of chaff1799
fainter1826
possum1833
cowardy, cowardy, custard1836
sheep1840
white feather1857
funk1859
funkstick1860
lily-liver1860
faint-heart1870
willy boy1895
blert1905
squib1908
fraid cat (also fraidy cat)c1910–23
manso1912
feartie1923
yellowbelly1927
chicken liver1930
boneless wonder1931
scaredy-cat1933
sook1933
pantywaist1935
punk1939
ringtail1941
chickenshit1945
candy-ass1953
pansy-ass1963
unbrave1981
bottler1994
1941 S. J. Baker Pop. Dict. Austral. Slang 60 Ringtail, a coward.
1943 Amer. Speech 18 256 With Americans a ringtail is a grouchy person; with Australians he is a coward.
1955 N. Pulliam I traveled Lonely Land 385 Ring-tail, a coward.
Compounds
C1. In sense 2, as ringtail-boom, ringtail sail, etc.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > sail > [noun] > extra sail set on gaff
ringtail1769
ringtail sail1769
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > spar > [noun] > pole controlling position of sail > types of
portlof1432
outligger1481
bumkin?c1613
driver-boom1750
ringtail-boom1769
spanker-boom1813
swinging-boom1840
jackyard1862
whisker pole1954
wishbone1984
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Boom Certain long poles run out from different places in the ship to extend the bottoms of particular sails. Of these there are several sorts; as the jib-boom, studding-sail-booms, ring-tail-boom,..and square-sail-boom.
1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 83 Abaft the after leech of the main-sail, in calm weather, is hoisted a ring-tail-sail.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast vi. 44 He was going aloft to fit a strap round the main top-mast-head, for ringtail halyards.
1873 ‘Vanderdecken’ Yachts & Yachting 185 A racing cutter will be fitted with four gaff-topsails, viz., a jib-headed or ring-tail topsail that is set without a yard.
1901 S. H. King Dog-watches 59 The Victoria, had a throat and peak mainsail instead of the mutton-leg mainsail and ringtail gaff topsail of the Excelsior.
1997 D. R. MacGregor Schooner (2001) vii. 43 The lengths of the spars are prodigious, with a main boom 54ft 5in long, a ringtail boom of 33ft 9in, a bowsprit of 56ft 5in and a jibboom of 50ft.
C2. U.S. = ring-tailed adj. 3, as ringtail roarer, etc. Now rare.
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1832 J. K. Paulding Westward Ho! I. xiv. 124 I got tired of making fun of the ringtail roarer.
1859 Oregon Argus 10 Dec. 1/1 Here lies James D. Porter, Who lived as he hadn't orter, But as a Methodist exhorter Was a regular ring-tail snorter.
1862 J. R. Lowell Biglow Papers 2nd Ser. i. i. 25 My eldes' boy is so took up, wut with the Ringtail Rangers An' settin' in the Jestice-Court for welcomin' o' strangers.
1909 E. Rye Quirt & Spur 151 Say, Doc., you are a ringtail-tooter, and no mistake.
1920 W. P. White Lynch Lawyers xvi. 268 Yo're another ring-tail roarer... A real howler, ain't you?.. Yuh make me sick.
1934 ‘N. West’ Cool Million xxiv. 170 But you'd better not rile me, stranger, for I'm powerful bad... I'm a rip-tail roarer and a ring-tail squealer, I am. I always kills the man what riles me.
1975 J. Gould Maine Lingo 232 You have to go some to keep ahead of him; he's a reg'lar ringtail peeler!
C3. In sense ‘having the tail marked with a ring or rings of contrasting colour’. In names of birds and mammals. Cf. ring-tailed adj. Compounds 1.† ringtail eagle n. Obsolete = sense 1b.† ringtail macauco n. Obsolete = ring-tailed lemur n. at ring-tailed adj. Compounds 1.† ringtail pigeon n. Obsolete = ring-tailed pigeon n. at ring-tailed adj. Compounds 1.
ringtail cat n. = ring-tailed cat n. at ring-tailed adj. Compounds 1; cf. sense 3b.
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1896 Insects affecting Domest. Animals (U.S. Dept. Agric., Div. Entomol. Bull. No. 5.) 243 The same species, apparently, also collected from the ringtail cat (Bassariscus astuta).
1940 Mt. Hood Guide xxv No open season on..such small fur-bearing animals as fisher, marten, civet cat, ringtail cat, and beaver.
2004 Trailer Life Feb. 41 A nocturnal exhibit reveals..the curious-looking ringtail cat.
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the world > animals > birds > order Falconiformes (falcons, etc.) > family Accipitridae (hawks, etc.) > [noun] > eagles > genus Aquila > aquila chrysaetos (golden eagle) > before its third year
ringtail eagle1766
ringtail1810
1766 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. ii. 62 The Ringtail Eagle..is common to the northern parts of Europe and America.
1813 A. Wilson Amer. Ornithol. VII. 14 The Ring-tail Eagle is characterized by all as a generous spirited and docile bird.
1838 Penny Cycl. X. 173/1 Young birds [sc. Golden Eagles] of one and two years. (Ring-tail Eagle.)
ΚΠ
1771 T. Pennant Synopsis Quadrupeds 137 Maucauco,..Ring-tail. Tail..marked with numbers of regular rings of black and white.
1800 W. Mavor Nat. Hist. 41 (heading) Ring-tail Maucauco.
1844 W. G. Rhind Creation (ed. 2) xi. 267 The Ring-tail Macauco. This little creature is about the size of a cat; with beautifully formed limbs.
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the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Columbiformes (pigeons, etc.) > [noun] > family Columbidae > genus Columba > miscellaneous types of
ringtail pigeona1705
band-tailed pigeon1823
band-tail1828
band-tailed dove1842
snow-pigeon1891
a1705 J. Ray Synopsis Avium & Piscium (1713) i. 63 Columba cauda fascia notata. D. Sloane. The Ring-Tail Pigeon.
1774 E. Long Hist. Jamaica II. 95 Shooting the ring-tail pidgeons, which in this part of the country are very numerous.
1865 Chambers's Encycl. VII. 534/1 The Ring-tail Pigeon (Columba Caribbea) may be mentioned as a West Indian species.
C4. In sense ‘having the tail curling in a ring’. In names of mammals. Cf. ring-tailed adj. Compounds 2.
ringtail opossum n. now rare = ringtail possum n.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Implacenta > subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) > [noun] > family Phalangeridae (phalanger) > other types of
cuscus1775
vulpine opossum or phalanger1789
ring-tailed opossum1803
ringtail possum1825
ringtail1831
ringtail opossum1831
ursine phalanger1839
mongan1889
Leadbeater's possum1937
ring-tailed possum1941
1831 G. A. Robinson Jrnl. 23 July in N. J. B. Plomley Friendly Mission (1966) 385 It was a young ringtail opossum.
1898 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 37 57 Midway along this rope there is a bundle of leaves.., supposed to represent the rest of a ring-tail opossum.
1952 J. F. Haddleton Katanning Pioneer 99 The ringtail opossum, a trifle smaller than the grey, very dark brown with a very long tail.
ringtail possum n. any of various nocturnal, tree-dwelling Australasian possums of the genus Pseudocheirus and related genera (family Petauridae), which have a prehensile tail that is habitually curled downwards in a ring or spiral; also called ringtail, ring-tailed possum.
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the world > animals > mammals > group Implacenta > subclass Marsupialia (marsupials) > [noun] > family Phalangeridae (phalanger) > other types of
cuscus1775
vulpine opossum or phalanger1789
ring-tailed opossum1803
ringtail possum1825
ringtail1831
ringtail opossum1831
ursine phalanger1839
mongan1889
Leadbeater's possum1937
ring-tailed possum1941
1825 London Mag. May 61 There is the ring-tail possom [sic], a very harmless creature, the colour of a rat.
1886 A. W. Howitt On Austral. Med. Men 52 I used to keep it in a bag of ringtail 'possum skin.
1958 Jrnl. Mammalogy 39 46 The ringtail possum, Pseudochirus convolutor (Oken) is more common than the brush possum, Trichosurus vulpecula (Kerr).
2001 J. Robinson Voices of Queensland i. 30 Toolah, the ringtail possum Pseudochirops archeri of a small area of rainforest in north-eastern Queensland [etc.].
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1538- whale-mouthed
- whale-net
- whale-pike
- whale-pole
- whale-pool
- whale-rope
- whale-shaped
- whale-shark
- whale-ship
- whale-shot
- whale-spade
- whale-spoilt
- whale-spout
- whale-steak
- whale-striker
- whale-striking
- whale-tailed
- whale-trade
- whale-vessel
- whaleacornshell
- whaleback
- whalebacked
- whalebacker
- whalebacks
- whalebarnacle