hardtail U.S.
(ˈhɑːdteɪl)
[f. hard a. + tail n.1]
a. A marine fish, Caranx crysos, found in the western parts of the Atlantic Ocean.
| 1884 G. B. Goode Fisheries U.S. i. 324 The Jurel—Caranx Pisquetus. This fish, known about Pensacola as the ‘Jurel’, ‘Cojinua’, and ‘Hard-tail’. 1902 Jordan & Evermann Amer. Food & Game Fishes 306 The runner, hard tail, or jurel, reaches a foot or more in length..and is a food-fish of considerable importance. 1968 OECD Multiling. Dict. Fish 139 Caranx crysos... Also called runner, hardtail, crevalle. |
b. slang. A mule.
| 1917 A. G. Empey Over Top 294 Hard tails, mules. 1931 ‘D. Stiff’ Milk & Honey Route 207 Hard tails, mules usually old ones. So named because they show little response to the skinner's whip. Young mules are shave⁓tails. 1966 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xlvi. 26, I was driving an old pair of hard tails. |