fantail

English
A fantail, Rhipidura leucophrys.
A silver-barred fantail pigeon.
A fantail goldfish.
Fantail (on the left) of the RMS Titanic (4)

Etymology

fan +‎ tail

Noun

fantail (plural fantails)

  1. Any of several birds, of the genus Rhipidura, from Asia, Australia and New Zealand.
  2. Any of several domestic varieties of pigeon having a fan-shaped tail.
  3. Any of several goldfish having a large fan-shaped tail.
  4. (nautical) An overhanging deck at the stern of a ship.
    • 1966, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 3, in The Crying of Lot 49, New York: Bantam Books, published 1976, →ISBN, page 38:
      The Paranoids cast off, backed the Godzilla II out from the pier, turned and with a concerted whoop took off like a bat out of hell, nearly sending Di Presso over the fantail.
  5. A small windmill mounted at right angles to the sails, at the rear of the windmill, used to turn the cap automatically to bring it into the wind.
  6. A brimmed hat with just the back of the brim turned up.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

Anagrams

Scottish Gaelic

Noun

fantail f

  1. verbal noun of fan
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