Meaning of tail between one's legs | Babel Free
Definitions
- Defeated; in a cowardly or miserable manner.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see tail, between, one's, legs.
Equivalents
Suomi
häntä koipien välissä
Français
la queue entre les jambes
Nederlands
de staart tussen de benen
Русский
поджа́в хвост
Svenska
med svansen mellan benen
Examples
“He came back home, tail between his legs.”
“"I wouldn't do that," said Mrs. MacAndrew. "I'd give him all the rope he wants. He'll come back with his tail between his legs and settle down again quite comfortably."”
“After 11 seasons set in Seattle[…] Frasier is returning to Boston, to reconquer his old Cheers-era stomping ground. “He left with his tail between his legs a little bit,” Grammer said in a recent interview.”
“Oft haue I ſeene a hot ore-weening Curre / Run backe and bite, becauſe he was with-held, / Who being ſuffer'd with the Beares fell paw, / Hath clapt his taile, between his legges and cride,”
CEFR level
C2
Mastery
This word is part of the CEFR C2 vocabulary — mastery level.
This word is part of the CEFR C2 vocabulary — mastery level.