| Principal Translations |
WordReference English-Spanish Dictionary © 2026:
| tail n | (animal: end part) | cola nf |
| | | rabo nm |
| | The dog yelped when the guy stepped on his tail. |
| | El perro chilló cuando el hombre le pisó la cola. |
| tail n | figurative (rear) | parte trasera loc nom f |
| | The truck hit the tail of the car. |
| | El camión chocó con la parte trasera del vehículo. |
| tail n | (end section of an aircraft) (aviación) | cola nf |
| | The airline's logo was on the tail of the aircraft. |
| | El logo de la línea aérea estaba en la cola del avión. |
| tails n | (reverse face of a coin) | cruz nf |
| | If the coin lands on heads, I win; if it's tails, you win. |
| | Si sale cara, yo gano; si sale cruz, ganas tú. |
| tails interj | (coin: reverse face up) | cruz interj |
| | Do you want heads or tails in the coin toss? Tails! |
| | ¿Cara o cruz? ¡Cruz! |
| tail adj | (rear) | trasero/a adj |
| | | de atrás loc adj |
| | The tail part of the car was damaged when it was hit by another car from behind. |
| | La parte trasera del auto recibió daños cuando fue impactada por otro auto. |
| Additional Translations |
WordReference English-Spanish Dictionary © 2026:
| tail adj | (coming from behind) | de cola loc adj |
| | The sailboat benefited from a strong tail breeze. |
| | El velero se benefició del fuerte viento de cola. |
| tail n | (end part of a comet) (astronomía) | cola nf |
| | The tail of that comet is visible with the naked eye. |
| | La cola de ese cometa es visible a simple vista. |
| tail n | (bottom of a shirt) (ropa) | faldón nm |
| | The tail of his shirt was hanging out of his pants. |
| | El faldón de su camisa sobresalía de sus pantalones. |
| tail n | (trailing part of a kite) | cola nf |
| | The kite had a long beautiful tail. |
| | La cometa tenía una cola larga y hermosa. |
| tail n | figurative, slang (person doing surveillance) | seguimiento nm |
| | (España, figurado) | sombra nf |
| | The police put a tail on the gangster to find out who his associates are. |
| | La policía hizo un seguimiento al gángster para descubrir a sus socios. |
| | La policía le puso una sombra al gángster para localizar a sus socios. |
| tail n | vulgar, offensive, informal, mainly US (sex with a woman) (con mujer) | polvo nm |
| | | ligue nm |
| | Rob is so immature; all he ever talks about is "getting some tail." |
| | Rob es tan inmaduro, solo habla de "conseguir un polvo". |
| tail n | vulgar, offensive!, informal, mainly US (women as sexual object) (AR, vulgar) | concha nf |
| | (ES, vulgar) | chorba nf |
| | Steve is such a misogynist; he talks about women as "tail." |
| | Esteban es un misógino, le dice a las mujeres "conchas". |
| tail n | US, informal (buttocks) (eufemismo) | trasero nm |
| | (ES: coloquial; AmL: vulgar) | culo nm |
| | | nalgas nfpl |
| | I slipped in the mud and landed on my tail. |
| | Me resbalé en el lodo y caí sobre el trasero. |
| tails npl | (tailcoat: men's dress coat) | frac nm |
| | He was dressed in top hat and tails. |
| | Él estaba vestido de sombrero de copa y frac. |
| tail [sb/sth]⇒ vtr | informal (follow) (persona) | seguir a vtr + prep |
| | | seguir⇒ vtr |
| | The spy tailed the official to find out whom he was working with. |
| | El espía siguió al funcionario para averiguar con quién trabajaba. |
| Compound Forms: |
WordReference English-Spanish Dictionary © 2026:
coattail (US),
coat-tail (UK) n | usually plural (man's formal jacket: back flap) | faldón trasero loc nom m |
| e-tail n | (selling on Internet) | venta en linea nf + loc adj |
| | | venta por internet nf + loc adj |
hightail,
high-tail vi | informal, US (run, hurry) (coloquial) | salir pitando loc verb |
| | (coloquial) | salir disparado loc verb |
| | The shoplifter hightailed out of the store with the security guard in hot pursuit. |
horizontal stabilizer,
also UK: horizontal stabiliser,
tail plane n | (aeronautics) | estabilizador horizontal loc nom m |
| lamb's tail | (botany) | lanaria lanata loc nom f |
make heads or tails of [sth] (US),
make head or tail of [sth],
make head nor tail of [sth] (UK) v expr | (understand [sth]) | entender⇒, comprender⇒ vtr |
| | | descifrar⇒ vtr |
| Note: Usually in the negative. |
| mare's tail n | (variety of waterweed) | pino acuático loc nom m |
| Note: Hippuris vulgaris. |
ponytail,
pony tail n | (tied-back hairstyle) | cola de caballo loc nom f |
| | | coleta nf |
| | | cola nf |
| | The cooks with long hair were required to wear a ponytail to work. |
| | Los cocineros con pelo largo debían llevar una cola de caballo al trabajo. |
rat-tail,
also US: rattail n | (fish with long thin tail) (pez, coloquial) | cola de rata loc nom m |
| | | macrúrido nm |
rat-tail,
rat's tail,
also US: rattail n | (hair: thin pony tail) (peinado) | cola de rata loc nom f |
rat-tail,
rattail adj | US, figurative (comb, etc.: having straight handle like rat's tail) (peinar) | con cola de rata loc adv |
shirttail,
shirt-tail n | (bottom part of a shirt) | faldón nm |
shirttail,
shirt-tail adj | US, figurative (relative: distant) | distante adj mf |
| | (ES, AR) | lejano/a adj |
shirttail,
shirt-tail n | US, figurative (addition to news story) | colofón nm |
shirttail,
shirt-tail adj | US, figurative (small, of little value) | de poco valor loc adj |
| | (ES) | de baratillo loc adj |
shirttail,
shirt-tail vi | US, figurative (use success or connections) | sacar tajada de loc verb |
| | (figurado) | enchufarse⇒ v prnl |
| | | aprovecharse⇒ v prnl |
| sting in the tail expr | UK, figurative (unpleasant turn of events) (figurado, coloquial) | coletazo nm |
| | | final amargo expr |
| | John's final words to her were the sting in the tail of what should have been an enjoyable evening. |
| | Las últimas palabras que le dijo Juan fueron el coletazo de lo que debería haber sido una buena noche. |
| tail coat n | (clothing) | traje de levita loc nom m |
| tail end n | (very last part) | final nm |
| | The car at the tail end of a railway train is often called the caboose. |
| | El vagón que va al final del tren se llama furgón de cola. |
| | (fam) | cola nf |
| tail fin n | (of a fish) | aleta caudal loc nom f |
| | I could tell by its tail fin that the fish was a marlin. |
| | Por la forma de la aleta caudal supe que aquel era un pez aguja. |
tail fin,
tailfin n | (on a car) (vehículo) | aleta nf |
| | American cars in the 1950's had tail fins. |
| tail gate n | (lock, canal: downstream gate) | compuerta de cola nf + loc adj |
| tail lamp n | UK (vehicle's rear light) (ES) | piloto trasero loc nom m |
| | | foco trasero loc nom m |
| | | luz trasera loc nom f |
| tail lights npl | npl (vehicle's rear lights) | luces traseras nfpl + adj |
| | The deputy stopped us because one of our tail lights was out. |
| | El agente nos detuvo porque una de nuestras luces traseras no funcionaba. |
| tail-off n | figurative (gradual decrease) | disminución nf |
| | We are finally seeing a tail-off in cases of the virus. |
| | Finalmente vemos una disminución en los casos. |
tailcoat,
tail coat n | (men's dress coat) | frac nm |
tailwind,
tail wind n | (wind from behind) | viento de cola nm + loc adj |
| | | viento de popa nm + loc adj |
| | The plane arrived early because there was a tailwind for almost the entire flight. |
telltale,
tell-tale,
tell-tail n | (nautical: indicates air flow) | cataviento nm |
| | The sailor struggled to repair the tell-tale during the storm. |
| top and tail v expr | (vegetable: remove both ends) | cortar las puntas loc verb |
| | Top and tail the carrots then dice them and add to the pan. |
| top and tail v expr | (method of washing a baby) | lavado de la cara y de la zona del pañal nm + loc adj |
| top to tail adv | (people: head to feet) | con la cabeza a los pies del otro loc adv |
| | The two brothers were sharing a bed, lying top to tail. |
tri-tip beef (US),
rump-tail beef (UK) n | (cut of meat) | cuadril nm |
| | (AR) | colita de cuadril loc nom f |
| | The butcher trimmed the tri-tip beef for his customer. |
| turn tail vtr + n | figurative (run away) (AR, UY) | rajar⇒ vi |
| | Seeing the criminal with a gun made her turn tail. |
| | Rajó al ver que el criminal tenía un arma. |
| | (ES) | salir por piernas, salir por patas loc verb |
| | Salió por piernas al ver que el criminal tenía un arma. |
| twist the lion's tail v expr | figurative (tax [sb]'s patience, provoke [sb]) (provocar, figurado) | tirarle de la cola al león expr |
| with your tail between your legs expr | figurative (in defeat) (coloquial) | con el rabo entre las piernas loc adv |
| | (coloquial) | con el rabo entre las patas loc adv |
