tail-rope
(ˈteɪlrəʊp)
† 1. That part of a horse's harness near the tail, as a breeching or crupper. Obs.
| c 1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 168 E à la koue un analuer [gloss] a tayl-rop [Camb. MS. Vauner, glossed taylrop]. c 1350 Nominale Gall.-Angl. 884 Esteles, trays, et valuere, Harnys, trays, taylerope. c 1425 Voc. in Wr.-Wülcker 665/35 Hec postela, taylerape. |
2. A rope forming or attached to the tail, or the hinder or lower end of anything; in various technical applications:
e.g. a. Naut. (Also
tailing-rope.) A sheet. (Now
N. Amer.)
b. One of several hand-ropes attached to the end of a main rope, as in a bell-rope which requires more than one ringer.
c. A rope attached to the rear of a train of carriages or wagons to draw them back again, or to retard their speed in running down an incline.
d. Coal Mining: see
quot. 1883.
e. A rope for moving a pulley-case in a slide.
| a. 1495 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 206, iij hausers of Normandye..abought makyng of vj tayle ropes for the Mayne sayle and a craynelyne for the mayne Toppe. 1916 F. W. Wallace Shack Locker (1922) 81 Make th' tail rope fast. a 1932 L. S. Tawes Coasting Captain (1967) 27 We had a long tail rope to slack the staysail over with. 1942 Amer. Neptune II. 234 ‘Tail rope’ is a short line made fast to the after end of the fore-staysail boom for the express purpose of backing the jumbo. |
| b. 1656 Heylin Surv. France 97 There are no lesse then four main ropes, besides their severall tale-ropes, to ring it [a bell at Notre Dame, Paris]. |
| c. 1838 Stephenson & Bidder in Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 110/2 We should propose to work this line by what is called a tail rope; that is, a rope attached to the train, by which it is drawn on the return journey. 1867 W. W. Smyth Coal & Coal-mining 157 If the inclination of a down-brow be..less than 1 in 28, the empty tubs..must be provided with a tail-rope passing round a sheave at the bottom of the incline, by which they will be hauled down again. 1874 J. H. Collins Metal Mining 73 In the iron mines of the North of England and South Wales..‘tail-rope haulage’ is exceedingly common. 1900 Engineering Mag. XIX. 724 A main rope which pulls the full trams out, and a tail rope which tails after the full trams, and which then becomes the haulage rope to pull out the empty trams. |
| d. 1883 Gresley Coal Mining Gloss., Tail Rope,..2. A round wire rope attached to cages as a balance. 3. A round hemp rope used for moving pumps in shafts. |
| e. 1844 Stephens Bk. Farm II. 293 The pulley-case is moved in the slide, either by a long screw or by a tail-rope, which, when the case is adjusted, is fastened to a cleat. |