hangtail meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

hangtail

adv

Etymology From hang + tail, from the way a dog will leave its tail drooping or hanging when frightened or sad.

With the tail hanging limply.

The dog trotted hangtail away, and the prairie dog turned his head to check on a flush.1964, Kulchur - Volume 4, page 50:
The dog dropped, hang-head, hang-tail.1967, Joyce Stranger, Rex: A Novel, page 184:

1 more example

At least a hundred hairless dogs, which had been barking fiercely, slunk hangtail through the ruptures that served these huts as doorholes.1971, Douglas Woolf, Ya!: John-Juan; Two Novels, page 207:

adj

Etymology From hang + tail, from the way a dog will leave its tail drooping or hanging when frightened or sad.

Disheartened; low-spirited.

Most bridegrooms look ashamed and hangtail.1952, Rhys Davies, Marianne, page 157:
When in this sad hangtail mood, even the healthy bites of aggressive fleas could not distract him, so deeply was he immersed in despondency.1969, Joe Johnson, Courtin', Sportin', and Non-supportin', page 89:

2 more examples

As they climbed into the van Potter clapped the trooper on the shoulder and Budd responded with as hangtail a smile as the agent had ever in his life encountered.1996, Jeffery Deaver, A Maiden's Grave:
And right now you were feeling a little hangtail.2001, Jack Curtis, The Sheriff Kill, page 45: