Meaning & use
shirt-tail
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Meanings
nouncountable
The long back part of a shirt that hangs below the waist and is usually tucked into the trousers.
Grammar: Countable: one shirt-tail, two shirt-tails; often written as two words, shirt tail.
Patterns
- tuck your shirt-tail in
- a shirt-tail hanging out
His shirt-tail had come out at the back, so he tucked it in before the meeting.
She pulled her shirt-tail down and smoothed the front of her blouse.
nouncountable
A long loose back section on a baby's or child's garment, or on a man's formal shirt.
Grammar: Countable; used mainly in descriptions of clothing styles and patterns.
Patterns
- a shirt with a shirt-tail
- a baby shirt-tail
The pattern shows a small shirt-tail at the back to stop the fabric riding up.
Old-fashioned dress shirts often had a longer shirt-tail for tucking in.
Word forms
| plural | shirt-tails |
|---|
Common combinations
- tuck in your shirt-tail
- Tuck in your shirt-tail before you go on stage.
- shirt-tail hanging out
- He walked in with his shirt-tail hanging out.
- grab someone by the shirt-tail
- The child grabbed his father by the shirt-tail.
- shirt-tail out
- It was so hot that everyone had their shirt-tails out.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- shirt noun
- A piece of clothing for the upper body, with sleeves and a collar.
- shirted adjective
- Wearing a shirt, usually in combinations such as white-shirted.
Commonly confused: shirt-tail or shirt tail?
shirt-tail vs shirt tail
This is the same item written as two separate words; the hyphenated form shirt-tail is simply a variant spelling.
Practice
Which sentence uses shirt-tail correctly?
Choose one answer.
A shirt-tail is the back part of a shirt that can come out of your trousers, so sentence 2 fits. The others describe other garments or body parts, not the back panel of a shirt.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “shirt-tail”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.