To run at great speed away from something. ![]() (usually transitive) To move at full speed, especially in retreat. Another Old English word for "tail" was steort (see stark).To go as fast as possible, especially in fleeing. The image of the tail wagging the dog is attested from 1907. To turn tail "take flight" (1580s) originally was a term in falconry. The tail-race (1776) is the part of a mill race below the wheel. Of descending strokes of letters, from 1590s. that of "woman as sex object" is from 1933, earlier "act of copulation" with a prostitute (1846). 1300 slang sense of "pudenda" is from mid-14c. Meaning "reverse side of a coin" (opposite the side with the head) is from 1680s that of "backside of a person, buttocks" is recorded from c. But Buck writes that the common notion is of "long, slender shape." As an adjective from 1670s. "hindmost part of an animal," Old English tægl, tægel "a tail," from Proto-Germanic *tagla- (source also of Old High German zagal, German Zagel "tail," dialectal German Zagel "penis," Old Norse tagl "horse's tail," Gothic tagl "hair"), from PIE *doklos, from suffixed form of root *dek- (2) "something long and thin" (referring to such things as fringe, lock of hair, horsetail source also of Old Irish dual "lock of hair," Sanskrit dasah "fringe, wick").Īccording to OED, the primary sense, at least in Germanic, seems to have been "hairy tail," or just "tuft of hair," but already in Old English the word was applied to the hairless "tails" of worms, bees, etc. High and dry of beached things (especially ships) is from 1783. 1200 ( heh i mahhte) "exalted and powerful," formerly a compliment to princes, etc. High-water mark is what is left by a flood or highest tide (1550s) figurative use by 1814. High tea (1831) is one at which hot meats are served. the sense is "full, total, complete." High finance (1884) is that concerned with large sums. High noon (when the sun is at the meridian) is from early 14c. High time "fully time, the fullness of time," is from late 14c. High school "school for advanced studies" attested from late 15c. 1200 (Old English had heahsynn "deadly sin, crime"). ![]() ![]() Of an evil or a punishment, "grave, serious, severe" (as in high treason), c. 1200) is reflected in high-handed and high horse. Sense of "proud, haughty, arrogant, supercilious" (c. Meaning "euphoric or exhilarated from alcohol" is first attested 1620s, of drugs, 1932. 1200 ( high road in the figurative sense is from 1793). Of roads, "most frequented or important," c. Spelling with -gh represents a final guttural sound in the original word, lost since 14c. The group is of uncertain origin perhaps related to Lithuanian kaukara "hill," from PIE *kouko. Old English heh (Anglian), heah (West Saxon) "of great height, tall, conspicuously elevated lofty, exalted, high-class," from Proto-Germanic *hauha- (source also of Old Saxon hoh, Old Norse har, Danish høi, Swedish hög, Old Frisian hach, Dutch hoog, Old High German hoh, German hoch, Gothic hauhs "high " also German Hügel "hill," Old Norse haugr "mound").
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