turn tail

See also: turntail

English

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Verb

turn tail (third-person singular simple present turns tail, present participle turning tail, simple past and past participle turned tail)

(idiomatic) To turn away from someone or something, in preparation for running away; to reverse direction; to leave or flee.
- 1838, Charles Dickens, "Some Particulars Concerning A Lion" in Mudfog and Other Sketches:
  A box-lobby lion or a Regent-street animal . . . will never bite, and, if you offer to attack him manfully, will fairly turn tail and sneak off.
- 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter 21, in Kidnapped:
  [H]e stormed at me all through the lessons in a very violent manner of scolding . . . . I was often tempted to turn tail, but held my ground for all that.
- 1911, Jack London, chapter 15, in The Cruise of the Snark:
  At last, in despair, we turned tail, ran out to sea, and sailed clear round Bassakanna.
- 1945 April 3, Bruce Rae, "Okinawa: The Marines Have Landed," New York Times, p. 1:
  Five of the enemy planes were shot down and the remainder turned tail.
- 2011 April 27, Vivienne Walt, "Have Fuel, Will Fight," Time:
  The men blew up two oil pipelines in eastern Libya near the rebel-held Sarir fields, before turning tail and speeding back west.

Usage notes

Often used to suggest fearfulness, cowardliness, or unwillingness to face a challenge or a responsibility.

Anagrams

rutilant