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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

roostertail en · NOUN

Etymology

From rooster + tail, from analogy with the shape of a rooster's feathered tail.

Meanings

  1. A violent fountain or spray, especially one caused by a moving vehicle or boat.
    • A roostertail of snow kicked up behind me. 1988, Libby Riddles, Race Across Alaska: First Woman to Win the Iditarod Tells Her Story, →ISBN, page 21:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
roostertails Number=Plur lexicographic
rooster-tail alternative lexicographic

roostertail en · VERB

Etymology

From rooster + tail, from analogy with the shape of a rooster's feathered tail.

Meanings

  1. To pour like a fountain; to spurt violently.
    • The red dust of Tanguieta rolling and roostertailing behind us. 2005, Pete Watson, “The Prisoner”, in The Heart of the Lion, →ISBN:
  2. To move rapidly through water, leaving a roostertail wake.
    • The shiny new aluminum tribal Jet-Boat roostertailed up the river, straight for us, kicking up a wake that rocked our boat hard enough to knock the cards off the cooler. 2005, Dave Ames, A Good Life Wasted, →ISBN, page 197:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
rooster-tail alternative lexicographic
roostertailed Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
roostertailed Tense=Past lexicographic
roostertails Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
roostertailing Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic