to ear tag
- verb
:
etiquetar con una etiqueta de oreja
- The veterinarian ear tagged the calves to ensure each one could be identified easily.
Examples
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To keep track of the livestock, he decided to ear tag all the sheep on the farm.
-
After all, tigers have been intensively tracked, tranquilized, ear-tagged, and radio-collared for four decades.
Fiction book (1998) -
Before the study began, researchers had to ear tag the animals to monitor their movements.
Synonyms
92
1.0
To attach a tag to something to show what it is
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to attach a small tag to an animal's ear' is directly derivable from combining 'ear' (body organ) and 'tag' (small label): the phrase describes a literal, compositional action. This is a common, cross-linguistically familiar farming practice, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily understand the MWE.
Etymology
Ear tag as a verb comes from the action of putting a small tag on an animal's ear, like giving it a name label. That's why 'to ear tag' means 'to attach' a tag so the farmer can 'identify' and 'track' the animal.