Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

tail

2 verb
     
tail2 [transitive]
informal to follow someone and watch what they do, where they go etc:
The police have been tailing him for several months.

tail away

phrasal verb
to tail off

tail back

phrasal verb
British EnglishTTC if traffic tails back, a long line of cars forms, for example because the road is blocked

tail off

phrasal verb
1 to become gradually less, smaller etc, and often stop or disappear completely:
Profits tailed off towards the end of the year.
2 written if someone's voice tails off, it becomes quieter and then stops:
'I didn't mean ...' Her voice tailed off in embarrassment.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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