foxtailn.
/ˈfɒksteɪl/, U.S. /ˈfɑksˌteɪl/ 1. The tail of a fox, a fox's brush. Formerly one of the badges of the fool or jester. flap with a foxtail: see flap v. 2d.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > performance of jester or comedian > [noun] > jester's badge
foxtail?1370
?1370 Robt. Cicyle 57 The fole Roberd with hym went, Clad in a fulle sympulle garment, With foxe tayles to renne abowte.
1553 T. Wilson Arte of Rhetorique i. f. 21 So that he [sc. the lawyer] gaineth alwaies..wheras the other get a warme sonne often tymes, and a flappe with a foxe taile for al that euer thei haue spente.
a1600 A. Montgomerie Misc. Poems iv. 48 Then tak me with the foxis taill a flap, Since that the Hevins are hinderers of my hap.]
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage ii. §2 (R.) Such a one is carried about the town with a boord fastned to his necke, all be-hanged with foxe~tayles.
1717 Will of S. Jackson If the Beadle make any demand..send him away with a Flapp of a Fox taile.
1852 tr. J. J. Seidel Organ & its Constr. 24 When they pulled out this stop, suddenly a large fox-tail flew into their faces.
1893 T. B. Foreman Trip to Spain 31 Their bells and ornaments of fox-tail.
2. As the name of a plant:
a. One of various species of grass with soft brush-like spikes of flowers, esp. Alopecurus pratensis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > [noun] > foxtail grass
foxtail1552
foxtail-grass1597
mousetail grass1696
black grass1733
bottle grass1813
float-fox-tails1816
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Foxe taile, herbe, Alopecurus.
1597 J. Gerard Herball i. 81 Foxetaile hath many grassie leaues or blades.
1799 J. Robertson Gen. View Agric. Perth 208 The meadow fox tail (alopecurus pratensis).
1830 J. Baxter Libr. Agric. & Hort. Knowl. 230 The foxtail flowers in April, May, and..June.
b. A club-moss ( Lycopodium clavatum).
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > moss > [noun] > club-moss or moss-like ferns
dwarf cypress1548
heath-cypress1551
pine1551
wolf's-claw1578
club-moss1597
wolf-claw1597
wolf's-foot1597
tree-moss1611
Selagoa1627
cypress-moss1640
mountain moss1688
lycopodium1706
stag's horn (also staghorn) moss1741
walking fern1814
tod-tails1820
Robin Hood's hatband1828
resurrection plant1841
ground-pine1847
forks and knives1853
fir club-moss1855
lycopod1861
Selaginella1865
foxtail1866
stag-head or stag's head moss1869
fir-moss1879
hog-bed1900
1800 W. Wordsworth Lyrical Ballads II. 70 That plant which in our dale We call Stag-horn, or Fox's Tail.]
1866 in J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot.
3. In various technical uses (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > class Osteichthyes or Teleostomi > order Salmoniformes (salmon or trout) > family Salmonidae (salmon) > [noun] > genus Salmo > salmo salar (salmon) > in fourth year
foxtail1712
fork-tail1753
1712 J. James tr. A.-J. Dézallier d'Argenville Theory & Pract. Gardening 195 These Pipes are..subject to Fox-Tails, which are the Roots of very small Trees, which passing by the Pores of the Earthen Pipe..grow to such Length and Bigness, as to stop up the Pipe entirely [so Fr. queue de renard (Littré)].
1854 C. D. Badham Prose Halieutics 313 Willughby tells us that of salars caught in the Ribble, those of the first year are called smolts..those of the fourth, fox-tails.
1873 Weale's Dict. Terms (ed. 4) Fox~tail in metallurgy, the cinder obtained in the last stage of the charcoal-finery process; it is a cylindrical piece hollow in the centre. [So Fr. renard, quoted by Littré from Buffon.]
Compounds
attributive and in other combinations.
foxtail-grass n. = 2a.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > a grass or grasses > [noun] > foxtail grass
foxtail1552
foxtail-grass1597
mousetail grass1696
black grass1733
bottle grass1813
float-fox-tails1816
1597 J. Gerard Herball i. 8 The great Foxe-taile grasse.
1712 J. Petiver in Philos. Trans. 1710–12 (Royal Soc.) 27 377 Rough ear'd Fox-tail Grass.
1813 H. Davy Elements Agric. Chem. viii. 315 Meadow foxtail grass.
foxtail-saw n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > saw > [noun] > other saws
handsaw1399
rug-saw1582
frame saw1633
nocksaw1659
bow-saw1678
lock saw1688
stadda1688
wire saw1688
panel saw1754
keyhole saw1761
web saw1799
table saw1832
rack saw1846
scroll-saw1851
fretsaw1865
back saw1874
foxtail-saw1874
tub-saw1874
gullet-saw1875
Swede saw1934
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. I. 912/1 Fox-tail saw, a dovetail saw.
foxtail-wedging n. (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > [noun] > wooden structures or wooden parts of > means of fitting together > methods of
mortising1589
notching1599
scarfing1644
tabulation1658
mitringc1664
tenoning1678
dovetailing1703
cocking1710
tabling1717
cogging1823
foxtail-wedging1825
mitre dovetailing1825
halving1842
key-dovetailing1847
boxing1874
1825 W. Hamilton Hand-bk. Terms Arts & Sci. Foxtail wedging.
1842 J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. Gloss. 976 Fox Tail Wedging, a method of fixing a tenon in a mortise by splitting the end of the tenon and inserting a projecting wedge, then entering the tenon into the mortise, and driving it home.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.?1370