hardtailn.
/ˈhɑːdteɪl/, U.S. /ˈhɑrdˌteɪl/ 1. U.S. The blue runner (fish), Caranx crysos.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Scombroidei (mackerel) > [noun] > family Carangidae (scads) > member of Trachurus or Caranx (horse mackerel)
scad1602
yellowtaila1622
mother of anchovies1668
hardtail1704
horse-mackerela1705
lizard fish1753
jurel1772
scad mackerel1803
maasbanker1831
caranx1836
saurel1882
runner1888
mackerel scad1890
1704 Nat. Hist. iii, in L. Wafer New Voy. & Descr. Isthmus Amer. (ed. 2) 204 The Male Hard-tail. Is eight or ten Inches long and two broad, on his Side is a row of round Pea-like black spots sprinkled with blew specks.
1884 G. B. Goode in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I i. 324 The Jurel—Caranx Pisquetus. This fish, known about Pensacola as the ‘Jurel’, ‘Cojinua’, and ‘Hard-tail’.
1902 D. S. Jordan & B. W. Evermann Amer. Food & Game Fishes 306 The runner, hard tail, or jurel, reaches a foot or more in length..and is a food-fish of considerable importance.
1968 OECD Multiling. Dict. Fish 139 Caranx crysos... Also called runner, hardtail, crevalle.
2003 Motorboating Jan. 100/2 We slowed down long enough to troll live hardtails and rigged ribbonfish around the oil rigs off Alabama and Mississippi.
2. U.S. regional colloquial. A mule (sometimes spec. an older one: see quot. 1931).
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the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > [noun] > hybrid horse and ass > mule
muleOE
muletto1656
mute1838
hardtail1906
jarhead1906
skin1918
1906 National Coopers' Jrnl. Aug. (Symposium section) 1/1 Even the hard-tails, those old mules are becoming very dignified and look at you with a great deal of ‘sarcasm’.
1931 ‘D. Stiff’ Milk & Honey Route 207 Hard tails, mules usually old ones. So named because they show little response to the skinner's whip. Young mules are shavetails.
1966 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xlvi. 26 I was driving an old pair of hard tails.
2010 R. Flynn Jade: Outlaw i. 9 A mule skinner broken down from driving hard tails across the rugged trail from San Antonio to El Paso.
3. Originally U.S. Originally: a motorcycle frame or rear frame section that has no rear-wheel suspension system. In later use chiefly: a motorcycle or bicycle that has suspension at the front but not at the rear. Frequently attributive.
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society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > motorcycle > [noun] > parts of
carrier1911
pillion1911
stand1918
drivetrain1938
kick-stand1947
twist grip1954
sissy bar1959
peg1965
hardtail1971
tank bag1974
top box1976
cockpit1993
1971 N.Y. Times 28 Feb. (Sports section) 22/8 (advt.) Extended fork tubes for all bikes. Hardtails for HD, Sptstr, Triumph 650, 500.
1973 Argus (Fremont, Calif.) 6 Apr. 26/7 Weiss..has an almost completely stock bike, a 1963 Tomco with a 48-inch front end, converted into a hard tail.
1998 Guardian 25 July (Sport section) 11/2 The hardtails start at about £250, while for a full suspension bike expect to pay a minimum of £500.
2000 P. Vincent Mountain Bike Maintenance 78 A suspension seatpost should be a priority upgrade on a hard tail bike.
2005 A. Ness & M. Lichter Arlen Ness 57/2 My first bike..was an exact copy of a pre-unit BSA. I welded a hardtail on it.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1704