TURN TAIL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does turn tail mean? 

• TURN TAIL (verb)
  The verb TURN TAIL has 1 sense:

1. flee; take to one's heels; cut and run

  Familiarity information: TURN TAIL used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TURN TAIL (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Flee; take to one's heels; cut and run

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

break away; bunk; escape; fly the coop; head for the hills; hightail it; lam; run; run away; scarper; scat; take to the woods; turn tail

Context example:

The burglars escaped before the police showed up

Hypernyms (to "turn tail" is one way to...):

go away; go forth; leave (go away from a place)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "turn tail"):

flee; fly; take flight (run away quickly)

skedaddle (run away, as if in a panic)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

 Context examples 

Still I advanced steadily, looking for him to turn tail at any moment and run.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

At first he had been prone to turn upon his pursuers, jealous of his dignity and wrathful; but at such times Mit-sah would throw the stinging lash of the thirty-foot cariboo-gut whip into his face and compel him to turn tail and run on.

(White Fang, by Jack London)