bobtail, v.
(bɒbteɪl)
[f. prec.]
trans. To dock the tail of; fig. to cut short, shorten, curtail.
| 1577 Stanyhurst Descr. Irel. in Holinshed VI. 28 A noble man, having a surpassing good horse..did bobtaile him, least anie of his friends..should craue him. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) II. 168 He is very just to the first Syllables of Words, but always bobtails the last. a 1700 Songs Costume (1849) 179 This Cloak..bobtayl'd the gown, Put prelacy down, And trod on the mitre to reach at the crown. |
Hence bob-tailed a. [f. vb. or n.], with tail cut short; short-tailed. spec. U.S. bobtailed flush, bobtailed straight = bob-tail C. 5; bobtailed car = bobtail car (see above).
| 1640 King & North. Man 62 in Hazl. E.P.P. IV. 295 His bob-tailed dog he out did call. 1702 Lond. Gaz. No. 3850/4 A clubbed bob-tail'd black Mare. 1863 Hawthorne Our Home I. 19 The bob-tailed coat and mixed trousers constituted a very odd-looking court-dress. 1873 Winfield (Kansas) Courier 15 Feb. 1/5 Well up in all the mysteries of a ‘pair’ or a ‘bobtailed flush’. 1875 Chicago Tribune 16 Oct. 11/3 In regard to public feeling being against bobtailed cars. 1901 S. E. White Westerners i. 4 He owned..a light, two-wheeled wagon of the bob-tailed type. 1944 Amer. N. & Q. Sept. 85/1 Bobtailed Straight or Flush. |