SWALLOW-TAILED • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Swallow-tailed

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/swˈɑloʊ-teɪld/ Listen

adjective

Swallow-tailed adj.

Having a tail like that of a swallow; hence, like a swallow's tail in form; having narrow and tapering or pointed skirts; as, a swallow-tailed coat.

(Carp.) United by dovetailing; dovetailed.

Swallow-tailed duck (Zool.), the old squaw.

Swallow-tailed gull (Zool.), an Arctic gull (Xema furcata), which has a deeply forked tail.

Swallow-tailed hawk or Swallow-tailed kite (Zool.), the fork-tailed kite.

Swallow-tailed moth (Zool.), a European moth (Urapteryx sambucaria) having tail-like lobes on the hind wings.

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Etymology of 'Swallow-tailed'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Swallow-tailed" Quotes from Famous Books

... man, dapper and debonair, swallow-tailed and top-hatted, was waltzing about the stage with dainty, mincing steps, and in a thin little voice singing something or other about somebody or something evidently pathetic. As his waning voice neared the end of the lines, a large ...

— Moon-Face and Other Stories • Jack London

... a perfect dinner, at which her husband assisted in a swallow-tailed coat and white tie, a concession he would not have made for every lodger, and Caffyn played the host to perfection, though with every course he asked himself inwardly, 'Shall I open fire on him yet?' and ...

— The Giant's Robe • F. Anstey

... no part in the general housework, except in an emergency. The valet does not wear livery. Indoors, in the evening and during the day, he wears dark gray or black trousers, white linen, a high-buttoned black waistcoat and a plain black swallow-tailed coat or one cut with short rounded tails. He wears a dark tie and dull leather shoes. He may also wear an inconspicuous pin in his tie and simple cuff-links; but a display of jewelry is not permissible. It may happen that a butler is ill or called ...

— Book of Etiquette • Lillian Eichler

... came to visit me upon a public occasion and during a function. I knew that I must introduce him, and with all possible ceremony, to my colleagues. He was very queer; tall and peaked, wearing a black, swallow-tailed suit, shiny with age, and a silk hat, bound with black crepe to conceal its rustiness, not to indicate a recent death; but his linen as spotless as new-fallen snow. I had my fears. Happily the company, ...

— Marse Henry, Complete - An Autobiography • Henry Watterson

... much surprised when, a short time after our visit to her, I observed her skipper go aft and run up the American ensign to his gaff-end. But I was a little surprised when he followed this up by hoisting a small red swallow-tailed flag to his main-royal-mast-head. I asked myself what could be the meaning of this move on his part, and it did not take me very long to arrive at the conclusion that it was undoubtedly meant as a signal of some sort ...

— The Congo Rovers - A Story of the Slave Squadron • Harry Collingwood