tag-alongadj.n.
North American colloquial.
A. adj.
1. Designating that which is towed or trailed behind something else.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > transport or conveyance by drawing along > [adjective] > drawn along
tag-along1944
1944 Sun (Baltimore) 21 Jan. 2/3 Evidence of trailed, or ‘tag-along’, bombs still is scanty.
1960 Newsweek 20 June 91/1 The tag-along highway trailers are delivered to..the bus terminals.
1974 Spartanburg (S. Carolina) Herald-Jrnl. 21 Apr. c9 (advt.) Also all types of trucks and truck tractors, all types of trailers including low-boy and tag-A-long.
2. Applied to an uninvited follower.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > association, fellowship, or companionship > a companion or associate > [adjective] > type of companion
tag-along1973
1973 Islander (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 10 June 16/1 The small trailer snug beside it like a tagalong pup.
B. n.
An unwelcome, uninvited, or neglected companion.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social relations > association, fellowship, or companionship > a companion or associate > [noun] > other types of companion
consenter1303
pew-fellow1533
bander1563
intercommoner1567
convenera1572
compeer1574
copemate1593
coherent1598
minion1598
barnacle1607
intercommuner1620
shade1667
dangler1728
rafiq1783
esquire1824
Sancho1870
tag-along1961
homeboy1965
bredda1969
arm piece1975
1961 Webster's 3rd New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang.
1967 Boston Sunday Herald 2 Apr. 45/1 The whole family suffers when Ernie becomes a dreadful tagalong.
1974 Publishers Weekly 28 Oct. 46/1 Seems to have spent most of her life as a ‘tagalong’ to a man who, as test pilot and astronaut, was seldom home.
1977 Islander (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 16 Jan. 8/1 (heading) Are Victoria women just tag-alongs in motor sports?
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online September 2021).
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adj.n.1944