rooster tailn.
/ˈruːstə teɪl/, U.S. /ˈrustər ˌteɪl/ Chiefly North American.
1. Any of several types of cocktail.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > intoxicating liquor > distilled drink > cocktail > [noun]
cocktail1803
rooster tail1844
1844 Liberator (Boston) 24 May 84/1 With rooster-tail and best gin-sling Fill high, them Britishers. [Note] Cocktail.
1855 H. R. Helper Land of Gold iv. 67/2 Bill of Fare of a California Groggery... Mint Juleps, Gin Sling,..Rooster Tail.
1877 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 4) 357/1 Liquor... Gin Straight... [Gin] Sling. [Gin] Sour... [Gin] Rooster-Tail.
1915 Fordowner Oct. 37/1 You can have one of those rooster tail things you like to drink.
1979 K. Kesey in Spit in Ocean 5 171 Are you all right? Maybe I better finish the rest of that Rooster Tail for you.
2005 E. Furman & L. Harry Little Black Bk. Shots & Shooters 64 Rooster Tail. 1 shot Jose Cuervo Especial Gold Tequila. 1 shot orange juice. 1 shot tomato juice. 1 dash salt.
2. The curved plume, as of water, dirt, or snow, thrown up behind a vehicle, skier, etc.
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the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > wave > types of waves > [noun] > other
way1578
wake1753
clean, clear breach1867
feather-spray1867
south-western1872
bow-wave1877
gravity wave1877
blind roller1888
gravitational wave1899
Kelvin wave1922
rooster tail1934
slide1935
bow shock1938
beacher1956
1934 N.Y. Times 5 Mar. 20 The ‘rooster tails’, or washed-up spray in the faces of the drivers in the wake of others stung them as they whirled around the elbow of the river.
1953 Marine Digest 19 Sept. 29/1 She was boxed in on the first turn by Gale and the two Such Crusts and their combined rooster tails just about sank her.
1955 F. Booth in I. B. Hebel Centennial Hist. Volusia County, Florida xiv. 169 A rooster tail of sand and water spurted 20 feet into the air as the heavy machine sped away.
1963 Pix 28 Sept. 62/4 Rooster-tail, wake of a board.
1971 Washington Post 15 Feb. c1/3 Mud everywhere. Sprayed up in rooster tails as the bikes churned across the 8 mile course.
1976 Telegraph-Jrnl. (St. John, New Brunswick) 7 Aug. 3/3 The small craft skim the river at incredible speeds. Their giant rooster tails sometimes reach a height of 90 feet.
2005 J. Fredston Snowstruck iv. 109 Each skier disappearing behind a rooster tail of powder.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1844