Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A small raccoonlike mammal (Bassariscus astutus) of the order Carnivora, inhabiting southwestern North America and having grayish or brownish fur and a black-banded tail.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A ring-tailed bird of prey: especially, the female or young male harrier, Circus cyaneus.
- noun A small quadrilateral sail, set on a small mast on a ship's taffrail; also, a studdingsail set upon the gaff of a fore-and-aft sail. Also called
ringsail .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) A bird having a distinct band of color across the tail, as the hen harrier.
- noun (Naut.) A light sail set abaft and beyong the leech of a boom-and-gaff sail; -- called also
ringsail . - noun (Naut.) a spar which is rigged on a boom for setting a ringtail.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
ring-tailed animal, notably: - noun nautical A
ringsail .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun North American raccoon
- noun an immature golden eagle
- noun monkey of Central America and South America having thick hair on the head that resembles a monk's cowl
- noun raccoon-like omnivorous mammal of Mexico and the southwestern United States having a long bushy tail with black and white rings
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The sails along the centre line of the ship are the fore-and-aft sails; these are the triangular jibs, staysails and trysails, and the trapezoidal spanker we have already mentioned, which sometimes has a gaff topsail over it and a "ringtail" behind it, as shown in our figure.
Golden Days for Boys and Girls, Vol. XIII, Nov. 28, 1891 Various
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It consisted of an unclean and vicious-looking man in tramp's clothing, grinding an offensive hand-organ and domineering over a poor little terrorized "ringtail" monkey.
The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals A Book of Personal Observations William Temple Hornaday 1895
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Actually, I'm wondering if it wasn't a ringtail, native to California.
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Actually, I'm wondering if it wasn't a ringtail, native to California.
Archive 2009-05-01 2009
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Recent media reports of the extinction of the lemuroid ringtail possum were "confused," the species is still around.
Archive 2009-04-01 2009
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Recent media reports of the extinction of the lemuroid ringtail possum were "confused," the species is still around.
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His size made him prominent among the sword - and ax-armed ringtail cats and raccoons who comprised the majority of the gang.
The Lives of Felix Gunderson Sugu Althomsons 2010
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A ringtail and the bear grabbed him under the arms and hustled him away toward the densest cluster of trees while the rest of the gang scattered in every direction.
The Lives of Felix Gunderson Sugu Althomsons 2010
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The bandicoot and ringtail rushed out to inform their companions of what had transpired within.
The Lives of Felix Gunderson Sugu Althomsons 2010
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The ringtail and raccoon exchanged a distinctly hesitant look before following.
The Lives of Felix Gunderson Sugu Althomsons 2010
chained_bear commented on the word ringtail
Also means some terribly nautical thing. See usage note on passaree.
February 24, 2008