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Glite Dictionary
🐟 A deep-sea fish 💇 A thin hair strand
rattail

rattail

7.2
A long thin strand of hair or a cord that looks like a rat's tail
  • noun
  • /ˈrætˌteɪl/
translation icon : coleta
  • For her hairstyle, she decided to style a long rattail that flowed down her back.
  • rattail comb

Examples

  • He came on to me in the bathroom... and I killed him with a rattail comb.

    Eating Raoul (1982)

  • He carefully arranged the strands into a rattail to give his look a unique flair.

  • The hairstylist used a rattail comb to section off thin strands for a more intricate design.

Synonyms

pigtail
vsrattail
22 3.0

A lock of hair braided tightly, often worn in two at the sides of the head

is a single thin strand shaped like a tail and not a paired braid
tress
vsrattail
1 7.9

A long lock of hair often braided or hanging over the shoulder

is a single thin tail-like strand rather than a braided lock

Compounds

rattail fish
  • Specialized
9.6

A deep sea fish with a large head and a long thin tail

rattail cactus
  • US
9.3

A tropical cactus with long thin hanging stems and bright red flowers

How Thin

filament
4 5.7
rattail
7.2
strand
58 3.1
lock
68 3.7

Surface Forms

rattail singular
rattails plural

Morphology

rattail = rat + tail (transparent) = rat + tail

A straightforward compound meaning 'a tail like a rat's', directly inferable from the two component words.

Etymology

The word rattail comes from the simple words rat and tail, because a long, thin piece of hair or cord looks like a rat's 'tail'. So calling that hairstyle a rattail makes it easy to imagine one single thin strand hanging down.