Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Having a deeply forked tail. Used of a bird.
- adjective Resembling the tail of a swallow.
from The Century Dictionary.
- In Greek female costume of the archaic period, noting the arrangement of the chiton or under garment, the plaits of which are so arranged that they fall in masses which resemble swallows' tails.
- Of the form of a swallow's tail; having tapering or pointed skirts: applied particularly to a coat.
- In joinery, dovetailed.
- Having a long, deeply forked tail, like the barn-swallow's.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Having a tail like that of a swallow; hence, like a swallow's tail in form; having narrow and tapering or pointed skirts.
- adjective (Carp.) United by dovetailing; dovetailed.
- adjective (Zoöl.) the old squaw.
- adjective (Zoöl.) an Arctic gull (
Xema furcata ), which has a deeply forked tail. - adjective (Zoöl.) the fork-tailed kite.
- adjective (Zoöl.) a European moth (
Urapteryx sambucaria ) having tail-like lobes on the hind wings.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Having a
tail that isforked like aswallow 's.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective (especially of butterflies and birds) having a forked tail like that of a swallow
Etymologies
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Examples
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I try to think of all the Audubon birds I know and list them in my head: Painted bunting, swallow-tailed hawk, great cinereous owl, whip-poor-will, the hemlock warbler...
The Memory Palace Mira Bartók 2011
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“This is the painted bunting, that is the swallow-tailed hawk.”
The Memory Palace Mira Bartók 2011
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I try to think of all the Audubon birds I know and list them in my head: Painted bunting, swallow-tailed hawk, great cinereous owl, whip-poor-will, the hemlock warbler...
The Memory Palace Mira Bartók 2011
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His images broke new ground by portraying birds in their own habitat, often in flight or in pursuit of prey, as with this swallow-tailed kite holding a snake.
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Scissor-tailed flycatcher, Tyrannus forficatus fomerly, Milvulus forficatus; protonym, Muscivora forficata, also known as the Texas bird-of-paradise and the swallow-tailed flycatcher, photographed at Manhattan, Kansas.
Mystery bird: scissor-tailed flycatcher, Tyrannus forficatus 2011
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A small, dark man, dapper and debonair, swallow-tailed and top-hatted, was waltzing about the stage with dainty, mincing steps, and in a thin little voice singing something or other about somebody or something evidently pathetic.
Amateur Night 2010
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“This is the painted bunting, that is the swallow-tailed hawk.”
The Memory Palace Mira Bartók 2011
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John James Audubon/ Birds of America Detail of Audobon's drawing of a swallow-tailed kite John James Audubon is considered one of the greatest bird artists of all time, famous for his life-size depictions in "Birds of America" 1827-1838.
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She was bemused by this young exquisite, for Raoul sported a swallow-tailed coat of sober blue over a high-collared shirt and fawn trousers set off by braided seams.
The Dressmaker Posie Graeme-Evans 2010
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It was the last day of Ascot, and the station was packed with throngs of those returning from their day at the races: men in swallow-tailed morning jackets and women in lurid pastels and headgear that resembled cakes and flower pots.
London Theater Journal: The Cost of Everything - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com 2008
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