swallowtail

English

a swallow with a characteristic forked tail.
An eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly

Etymology

swallow + tail

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈswɒl.əʊˌteɪl/

Noun

swallowtail (plural swallowtails)

  1. The forked tail of a swallow.
  2. Anything, such as a burgee, of a similar forked shape.
  3. A type of tailcoat with two long tapering tails.Wp
    • 1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, chapter I, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., OCLC 580270828, page 01:
      It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.
  4. Any of various butterflies of the family Papilionidae, many of which have a long extension to each hindwing.

Translations

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