tail end en · NOUN
Etymology
From Middle English taylende; equivalent to tail + end.
Meanings
- The hindmost part of anything (a person, animal, or object), the rear end; the butt, buttocks; hindquarters, rump.
-
(figuratively) The last part of a period of time, event, or situation; the concluding or final part.
At the tail end of summer.
The tail end of a conversation.
An equipment malfunction has woken him up 90 years early, and he’s now doomed to live out the rest of his life surrounded by sushi bars and infinity pools, but not a single human companion.(The other 5,000 passengers on board will wake up at the tail end of the ship’s 120-year voyage to Earth colony Homestead-II.)
2016 December 20, Katie Rife, “Passengers strains the considerable charms of Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 23 Apr 2018:We meet at the tail-end of the Edinburgh TV Festival, normally a hum of desperate pitching and angry gossiping among media executives.
2025 September 13, Daniel Thomas, “Lunch with the FT: Shonda Rhimes”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3:The tail end of a lecture.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| tail-end | alternative | lexicographic | |
| tailend | alternative | lexicographic | |
| tail ends | Number=Plur | lexicographic |