/fish"tayl'/ , v.i.
1. to swerve or skid from side to side, as the rear end of a car.
2. to slow an airplane by causing its tail to move rapidly from side to side.
n.
3. such a maneuver.
4. a gas burner having two jets crossing each other so as to produce a flame resembling a fish's tail.
5. a device having a long, narrow slot at the top, placed over a gas jet, as of a Bunsen burner, to give a thin, fanlike flame.
6. Jewelry. a setting consisting of four prominent triangular corner prongs to hold the stone.
[ 1400-50; late ME. See FISH, TAIL 1 ]