▪ I. tag, n.1
(tæg)
Also 5–6 tagge, 6 tagg, tage.
[Known shortly after 1400: origin obscure. In senses 1, 2 a, and 3, it is synonymous with dag n.1, which appears to have been the earlier form: if so, tag may have been influenced by association with tack. Some compare Sw. tagg ‘prickle, point, tooth’, but evidence of historical connexion is wanting.
The evidence at hand for the early history is deficient, the earliest quot. for the group being c 1380 in tagged 1, a deriv. of the n. in sense 1.]
1. Originally, one of the narrow, often pointed, laciniæ or pendent pieces made by slashing the skirt of a garment; hence, any hanging ragged or torn piece; also, any end or rag of ribbon or the like.
| 1402 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 69 Of suche wide clothing, tateris and tagges, it hirtith myn hert hevyly. c 1500 Rowlis Cursing 135 in Laing Anc. Poet. Scotl., Ruffy Ragmen [a devil] with his taggis Sall ryfe thair sinfull saule in raggis. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxvi. 115 Thae tarmegantis, with tag and tatter, Ffull lowd in Ersche begowth to clatter. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 313 The skyrtes of his goune all pounced in cuttes and tagges. 1840 Thackeray Paris Sk.-bk. (1872) 7 Crumpled tags of ribbon. 1884 St. James's Gaz. 10 May 6/1 The tags of drapery and other accessories. 1889 Cornh. Mag. Feb. 124 With tags of ribbon sticking out in unexpected places. |
2. A small pendent piece or part hanging from, or attached more or less loosely to the main body of anything. With numerous specific applications, e.g.
a. A matted lock of wool on a sheep; a tag-lock; a twisted or matted lock of hair. b. A shred of animal tissue. c. A shred of metal in a casting: see quot. d. A final curl, twirl, or flourish added to a letter, sometimes used as a mark of contraction. e. fig. An appendage; the tail-end (of any proceeding).
| a. c 1640 J. Smyth Lives Berkeleys (1883) I. 157 What money was..made by sale of the locks, belts and tags of Sheep. 1888 Harper's Mag. June 137/2 Her reddish-brown hair, which grew in a fringe below her crown, was plaited into small tags or tails. |
| b. 1724 Ramsay Health 186 Bones corrupt and bare, Through ulcerated tags of muscles stare. 1897 J. Hutchinson Arch. Surg. VIII. No. 31. 214 Under atropine the pupils dilated, but shewed numerous tags of adhesion. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. III. 716 They [adhesions] are then seen as filamentous tags on the outside of the intestine. 1899 Ibid. VII. 612 A small tag of fibrin from the valve. |
| c. 1863 Lyell Antiq. Man ii. 10 Some of the moulds in which the bronze instruments were cast, and ‘tags’ as they are called, of bronze, which are formed in the hole through which the fused metal was poured. |
| d. 1867 Furnivall Percy Fol. I. 18 note, To many of the final d's is a tag, which often means nothing, and often means s. |
| e. 1703 Steele Tender Husb. i. i, Seem to have come into the World only to be Taggs in the Pedigree of a Wealthy House. 1882 Holland Logic & Life (1885) 317 Death is but the tag of this life. |
3. a. A point of metal or other hard substance at the end of a lace, string, strap, or the like, primarily used to facilitate its insertion through an eyelet-hole, as in a boot-lace or stay-lace, but when externally visible often made ornamental, as on the ‘points’ in use before buttons; an aglet.
(The first two quots. are of doubtful sense.)
| [1501–2 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. II. 33 Item, for taggis to ane Franch sadill and mending of it xij d. 1507 Ibid. III. 270 Item, for taggis, bukkilles, and small graith to thaim, xv. s.] 1570 Levins Manip. 10/19 Y⊇ Tag of a poynt, ferrétrum. 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Vn fer d'aiguillette, a tagge. 1592 Lyly Gallathea v. i. 70 Thy Maister could make silver pottes of tagges of poynts. 1648 Gage West Ind. 56 With long silver or golden Tags hanging down before. a 1734 North Exam. iii. viii. §15 (1740) 593 Now comes the Tag to this fine Lace. 1832 Babbage Econ. Manuf. iv. (ed. 3) 31 The simple art of making the tags of boot-laces. 1861 Wright Ess. Archæol. I. vii. 133 The object..is part of the metal tag at the end of the belt. |
b. fig.
| c 1572 Gascoigne Fruites Warre lxi, Is witte nowe wente so wandring from thy minde? Are all thy points so voide of Reasons taggs? 1611 Middleton Roaring Girl iii. i, Here's the point [Draws her sword] That I untruss; 't has but one tag, 't will serve though To tie up a rogue's tongue. |
† c. Phrases. to hold tag, to keep a person engaged in conversation: cf. to buttonhole. to a tag, to the minutest point, exactly; cf. to a T. Obs.
| 1567 Drant Horace, Epist. v. C vij, Scotfree we may hould tagge In frendly chat this sommers night. 1679 V. Alsop Melius Inquir. Introd. 20 To hang on a string only with those who jump in with our own Points to a Tag. 1682 N. O. Boileau's Lutrin iv. 318 At Trent, when Concord in a Bag Came Post from Rome, they hit it to a Tag! |
4. a. An ornamental pendant; a tassel; a ribbon bearing a jewel, etc.
| 1570 Levins Manip. 10/20 Ye Tag of a purse, appendix. 1686 Lond. Gaz. No. 2132/4 Lost.., a black laced Palatin with Diamond Tags upon black Ribon. 1762–71 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) I. 230 The first lady has tags of a particular form, exactly like those on the dress of my duchess of Suffolk. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair vi, Our good child..passed in review all her gowns, fichus, tags, bobbins, laces, silk stockings, and fallals. 1890 Spectator 14 June 834/2 The sculptor..has filled up part of the arch with long heavy tassels hanging from the saddle-cloth. Throughout the work there seems to be an excess of tag and small decoration. |
b. pl. A footman's shoulder-knots.
| 1837 J. Morier Abel Allnutt xxx. 175 A stout footman staggering under a long cane and matted tags, and with difficulty waddling in his stiff plushes. 1844 Dickens Mart. Chuz. ix, With such great tags upon his liveried shoulder. |
5. A catkin of a tree. rare.
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal i. xv. §2. 17 The catkins or tags which grow on nut trees and aller trees. 1878 Mrs. Stowe Poganuc P. xvii. 147 The tremulous tags of the birches and alders shook themselves gaily out in the woods. |
6. The tip of the tail of an animal, esp. when distinct in colour or otherwise; the tail-piece of an angler's fly. (Much earlier in tagged a. 3.)
| 1681 J. Chetham Angler's Vade-m. xxxv. §1 (1689) 222 Some Red warp'd in for the tag of the Tail. 1787 Best Angling (ed. 2) 106. 1863 Kingsley Water-Bab. i. 37 A great brown sharp-nosed creature with a white tag to her brush. 1867 F. Francis Angling xiii. (1880) 472 Tie on the tag, which is usually a bit of tinsel. 1886 Field 27 Feb. 268/1 The fox..gets the credit of being a vixen; but his snowy tag has only to be seen in order to dispel that notion. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXV. 449/1 Two of the best grayling flies are a very small apple-green dun and the red tag. |
7. The strip of parchment bearing the pendent seal of a deed.
| 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. xv. (Roxb.) 21/1 A writt sealed vp, haueing two taggs or Labells Or, in a feild Gules. 1872 C. Innes Lect. Scotch Leg. Antiq. v. 235 A small piece of the seal shall stick at the tag of the brief. 1887 J. B. Sheppard in Lit. Cantuar. (Rolls) I. 341 note, The originals have now both lost their seals, although the slits for the tags remain. |
8. a. A tab or tie-label attached by one end to a package, to luggage, etc.; also, a label pinned on as a badge, etc. Also fig. = tab n.1 7. orig. and chiefly U.S.
| 1864 Webster, Tag..2. Any slight appendage..; specifically, a direction card or label. 1891 Cent. Dict., Tag..2 (c). A strip of leather, parchment, strong paper, or the like, loose at one end, and secured to a box, bag, or parcel, to receive a written address or label. 1908 Times 26 Dec. 10/2 A new system of street collecting for public charities by means of tags or labels,..tried at San Francisco recently on behalf of the Children's Hospital... The advent of ‘tag day’ is well advertised. a 1910 Mod. Price List, Tags with strings in packets. Extra large tags with ruled lines. 1961 Times 5 Jan. 4/3 After the interval Surrey drafted in extra men to help Prosser keep a tag on Farooq. |
b. Sometimes applied to a tab or loop by which a coat or the like is hung up.
c. Electronics. A small metal projection to which a wire may be soldered or attached.
| 1919 R. Mordin Strowger Automatic Telephone Exchange ii. 34 The tags are arranged in ten sets of three rows, and pass completely through holes in the tag board, so that it is possible to wire the tags on either or both sides of the board. 1958 Practical Wireless XXXIV. 63/2 All earth leads on the pre-amplifier are taken to one point, actually to a soldering tag on the input coaxial socket. 1971 Hi-Fi Sound Feb. 71/1 Never, under any circumstances, solder connections to the tags with them already on the cartridge. |
d. (See quot. 1935.) N. Amer. slang.
| 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 118/1 Tag, an automobile license plate. 1971 Maclean's Mag. Sept. 34/1 The license plates (‘tags’), laws unto themselves, somehow manage to contradict and complement each other at the same time. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 18 June 7c/3 [They] observed a Thunderbird with Louisiana tags circling the block. |
e. Computers. A character or set of characters appended to an item of data in order to identify it.
| 1948 Theory & Techniques for Design of Electronic Digital Computers (Moore School of Electr. Engin., Univ. of Pennsylvania) IV. xxxix. 1 To introduce..a new element called a stop order tag which may be attached to the words stored in the memory. 1961 Leeds & Weinberg Computer Programming Fund. v. 151 Bits 0, 1, and 2 (often called the prefix of the word) and bits 18 to 20 (called the tag) specify the operation. 1963 IBM Jrnl. Res. & Devel. VII. 337/2 If it is desired to translate the text with the aid of a microglossary, the text is preceded by a tag specifying the pertinent field. 1978 J. P. Hayes Computer Archit. & Organization iii. 149 The processor merely has to inspect the operand tags to determine the specific type of operation to be performed, e.g., a fixed-point double-precision addition. |
f. An epithet; a label or popular designation. colloq.
| 1961 in Webster. 1972 Times 7 Aug. (Jamaica Suppl.) p. iii/4 The lost goodwill..and the loss of the tag of still being the safest Caribbean country for investment. 1976 Daily Tel. 20 July 3/2 The Black Panther tag, probably coined by the press, was the worst of it. 1982 Oxford Star 4–5 Feb. 3/2 Cassells doesn't let the tag of Third Division top scorer bother him too much. |
g. A price (cf. price-tag s.v. price n. 14); hence, an account or bill. Cf. tab n.1 7.
| 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 3 Feb. b2/3 (heading) Petrofind raises fuel oil price, bulk gas tag. 1977 Modern Railways Dec. 474/2 BR stresses, too, that if there's a gulf between the price of the basic, low-cost vehicles customers have been using in old-style wagonload working and the tag on a late-1970s air-braked, 75 mile/h vehicle, there's a comparable contrast in the service obtainable. 1979 D. Meiring Foreign Body xviii. 197 Even if they went broke, the bank would pick up Sagr's crude-oil tag and pay it. |
9. a. Something appended or added to a writing or speech, esp. by way of ornament or improvement, e.g. the moral of a fable, etc.
| a 1734 North Exam. ii. v. §74 (1740) 360 To avoid the Fastidium of noting all the Author's Tags joined to his Relations of this Time. 1872 W. Minto Eng. Prose Lit. i. ii. 134 A tag of statistics is very chilling. 1874 L. Stephen Hours in Library (1892) II. v. 151 [Massinger] is fond of adding little moral tags..to the end of his plays. 1885 Manch. Exam. 13 Oct. 4/7 Each paragraph..would serve..as a tag by way of peroration to a debating club harangue. |
b. A brief and usually familiar quotation added for special effect; a much used or trite quotation.
| 1702 S. Parker tr. Cicero's De Finibus i. 5 With Tags of Metre translated from the Greek..we can dispense well enough. 1866 Geo. Eliot F. Holt xvii, I don't talk in tags of Latin, which might be learned by a schoolmaster's footboy. 1893 Jessopp Stud. Recluse vii. 225 Putting in tags and rags of French..to conceal poverty of style. 1897 Sat. Rev. 18 Dec. 701 The Latin tag holds: ‘Quem Deus vult perdere, prius dementat.’ 1902 Buchan Watcher by Thresh. 175 Stories from Procopius and tags of Roman law. |
c. The refrain or catch of a song or poem; the last words of a speech in a play, etc.
| 1717 J. Gay et al. Three Hours after Marriage i. 25 The tag of the Acts of a new Comedy. 1755 C. Charke Life 205 Concluding the Play with Jane Shore's Tag, at the End of the first Act of that Tragedy. 1793 H. Walpole Let. to Agnes Berry 18 Oct., They have brought to my recollection the tag of an old song. 1815 Scott Let. to Miss J. Baillie 12 Nov. in Lockhart, I am..anxious to store the heads of my young damsels with something better than the tags of rhymes. 1830 H. Lee Mems. Manager II. viii. 104 The tag; which is the technical phrase for the last lines of any play. 1876 N. Amer. Rev. CXXIII. 480 And, to borrow the tag of an old story, ‘There—my lord—I leave you’. |
d. A musical phrase added to the end of a piece in composition or performance (see also quot. 1978). Esp. in Jazz.
| 1929 N.Y. Times 20 Oct. ix. 8/6 Tag, ending added to a musical composition. 1932 Melody Maker June 507/3 The tag..implies that this is a band record. 1943 Riverboat Jazz (Brunswick Records) 7 He comes in to play a tag—just a few notes. 1958 P. Tanner in P. Gammond Decca Bk. Jazz xi. 130 A tradition has grown up..of concluding with a short drum break and a tag ensemble coda. 1960 H. O. Brunn Story Original Dixieland Jazz Band v. 59 The Dixieland Band's stock ending, the ‘dixieland tag’, faithfully concluded every number. 1978 Amer. Speech 1975 L. 301 Tag, added ending of a song, often repeating the final words and designed to make a complete and satisfying arrangement. |
e. Linguistics. An interrogative formula used to convert statements into questions. Cf. tag question, sense 14 below.
| 1957 Publ. Amer. Dial. Soc. xxviii. 17 An understanding of tags implies an understanding of sentence order and the role of accent. 1963 F. T. Visser Hist. Syntax I. ii. 175 The type ‘oh, Biffin told you, did he? (or He did?)’. This type differs from that illustrated in the preceding section in the fact that statement and tag with to do are either both positive or both negative. 1973 Archivum Linguisticum IV. 69 Tag constructions can convey much to the discriminating listener. 1977 Language LIII. 742 An auxiliary verb typically can appear in the tag of tag questions. |
† 10. a. The rabble, the lowest class of people. Obs.
| 1607 Shakes. Cor. iii. i. 248 Will you hence, Before the Tagge returne? a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Tag, the rabble. |
† b. esp. in collocation with rag n.1 3 b: tag and rag, a contemptuous expression for all the components of the rabble, of the lower classes, or of an assemblage of people held in small esteem; all and any, every man Jack, everybody, Tom, Dick, and Harry. Obs. See also tag-rag.
| c 1535 F. Bygod Impropriations (K.O.), Your fathers were wyse, both tagge and rag. 1553–4 Machyn Diary (Camden) 50 Huntyd, and kyllyd tage and rage with honds and swords. 1566 J. Partridge Plasidas 1041 To walles they go, both tagge and ragge, their Citie to defende. 1610 Cooke Pope Joan in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) IV. 95 That you have made Levites..of the scurvy and scabbed, of the lowest of the people, tag and rag. a 1626 Bp. Andrewes Serm. (1641) 181 This is the time when all hypocrites, atheists, tag and rag come. 18.. Southey Devil's Walk xxiii, With music of fife and drum, And a consecrated flag, And shout of tag and rag, And march of rank and file. 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. vi. ix. (1861) 231 Every tag having his rag at his side, to finish his pipe..and laugh at his flights of immortal dulness. |
11. In servants' vocabulary: A lower servant.
| 1857 T. Wright Dict., Tag, one who assists another at work in a secondary character. Northampt. 1860 Athenæum 17 Nov. 664 Servants..with their own distinction of ranks, the ‘Pugs’ and the ‘Tags’. |
12. A disease in sheep; = tag-sore (14): see quots.
(Cf. tagged 5 a, which is evidenced much earlier.)
| 1741 Compl. Fam.-Piece iii. (ed. 3) 494 Of the Tag or Belt in Sheep. Sheep are said to be tagged or belt, when they have a Flux, or continued running of Ordure, which lighting upon the Tail, the Heat of the Dung, by its scalding, breeds the Scab. 1756 Compl. Body Husb. 694 The Tag is situated in the inner part of the Tail; it consists of Scabs and Sores. 1807 Essays Highland Soc. III. 434 A disease..affecting the tail, has been denominated Tag. |
13. slang. A person who follows another as a detective or spy. Cf. tag v.1 4 b, tail n.1 6 b.
| 1966 ‘A. Hall’ 9th Directive vii. 62 Who were the tags? The thin one, and the one with the splay-footed walk? 1972 J. D. Buchanan Professional v. 62 Guerin realized he had a tag... Guerin would walk and stop, the tag would do the same. 1979 ‘A. Hall’ Scorpion Signal xii. 139 Ignator went through the lights at yellow... I don't think he was going through on the yellow because he'd discovered the tag. |
14. attrib. and Comb., as tag-like adj.; tag alder, U.S. local, name for some species of alder, esp. Alnusincana, A. serrulata, and (on the Pacific coast) A. rubra; tag axle N. Amer., a non-powered set of wheels on a truck, etc., attached so as to support extra weight; tag-belt, = tag-sore; tagboard, (a) U.S., a type of strong cardboard, used esp. for making luggage labels; (b) Electronics, a board of insulating material containing two or more parallel lines of tags (sense 8 c above), so that a component can be mounted between each pair; tag-boat U.S. local, a boat towed behind a small steamer or sailing vessel; a tender, cockboat; tag day N. Amer. = flag-day (b) s.v. flag n.4 7; tag-end, the last part or remnant of anything; a remaining scrap or fragment; = fag-end; tag-fastener, -holder, a device for attaching tags or labels; tag line U.S. = punch line; tag-lock, a matted lock of sheep's wool, esp. one of those about the hinder parts; = dag-lock; tag-machine, a machine for making tags or labels; tag-needle, a needle for attaching labels to bags, bales, etc.; tag-phrase, an automatically repeated or over-used phrase; tag question Linguistics , a question formed by the appendage of an interrogative formula to a statement; a formula used in this manner (cf. sense 9 e above); tag-sore, pustular excoriation of a sheep's tail set up by the irritation of diarrhœal flux; tag strip Electronics, a strip of insulating material on which are mounted a line of tags (sense 8 c above); tag-tail, a worm with a yellow tag or tail; also, a parasite, a hanger-on; tag-wool, wool made from tag-locks; tag-worm = tag-tail.
| 1891 Lancet 3 Oct. 772/1 *Tag alder. |
| 1971 M. Tak Truck Talk 163 *Tag axle, the hindmost axle of a tandem-axle tractor if that axle serves only to support additional gross weight. 1977 Telegraph-Jrnl. (St. John, New Brunswick) 1 June 3/5 He said in an interview that the Motor Vehicles Branch no longer allows extra weight when a third ‘tag axle’ is added to tandem drive trucks. |
| 1832 Boucher Gloss. Obs. & Prov. Wds., *Tagbelt, excoriation brought on by diarrhoea. 1893 S. O. Jewett Deephaven 128, I got into the schooner's tag-boat quick. |
| 1912 Walden's Directory of Papers (Eastern ed.) p. liii, Paper and card board..translucents, *tag boards, etc. 1952 E. J. Labarre Dict. Paper (ed. 2) 301/1 Tag paper or board is a very strong and tough product made on the Fourdrinier (Bristol), used for making the well-known luggage and shipping tags. 1956 Wireless World Mar. 125/1 A plain tagboard, carrying resistors and capacitors. 1973 G. Davey Fun with Hi-Fi iii. 25 (caption) Layout and tagboards of Mullard 510 amplifier. 1976 National Observer (U.S.) 23 Oct. 20/1 (Advt.), Each issue is 42 or more pages long, bound in sturdy tagboard. |
| 1908 *Tag day [see sense 8 a]. 1916 Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 4 July 6/3 Friday, August 4, is to be tag day for the Italian Red Cross Society. 1949 Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky) 3 Sept. 10/1 The conference agreed [upon]..a tag day on which Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts will solicit funds during the Kentucky State Fair. |
| 1807 C. Wilmot Let. 15 May in Russ. Jrnls. (1934) ii. 245, I believe..we have been solemnising..the *Tag end of those very May Day ceremonies which scandaliz'd ould Cato near two thousand years ago. 1818 Coleridge Diss. Sc. Method ii. 40 Not made up of miserable clap-traps, and the tag-ends of mawkish Novels, and endless sermonizing. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 8 Nov. 3/2 The mania for gold embroidering and braiding and the gold tag ends of present-day fashions. |
| 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 160 Ragged sloughy material, which often projects in *tag-like pieces into the abscess cavity. |
| 1926 G. Ade Let. 14 Sept. (1973) 113 The prosecutor asks: ‘Do you know him?’ She studies him carefully and then pulls the *tag line: ‘No, I don't recognize him at all.’ 1941 B. Schulberg What makes Sammy Run? iii. 44 One of those long dirty stories for which the only justification would be the tag line at the climax. 1982 Fortune 6 Sept. 53/1 One recent ad. shows a stunning model wearing nothing but a solitaire diamond necklace. ‘She can't flaunt a fur on the Côte d'Azur,’ reads the tagline. |
| 1615 T. Adams Lycanthropy 17 They will plucke our fleeces; leave us nothing but the *tag-locks. 1884 Century Mag. Feb. 519/2 The tag-locks and pulled wool were mostly worked up in the..small factories into stocking-yarn [etc.] for the farmer's use. |
| 1933 R. Tuve Seasons & Months iv. 110 All these uses of the seasons-introduction appear and reappear, sometimes elaborately, sometimes in a mere conventional *tag-phrase. 1963 Tag-phrase [see goon-like adj. s.v. goon 5]. |
| 1933 O. Jespersen Essentials Eng. Gram. xxviii. 304 Note especially *tag-questions..like: He was angry, wasn't he? 1957 R. W. Zandvoort Handbk. Eng. Gram. v. ii. 224 A certain type of compound sentence, consisting of a statement followed by an appended question (or ‘tag question’) modelled on the main clause... You are not ill, are you? 1982 Amer. Speech LVII. 95 Lakoff..considers tag questions (He can work, can't he? and He is honest, isn't he?) as declaratives—assertions. |
| 1828 Webster, *Tag-sore, a disease in sheep. Cycl. |
| 1942 Electronic Engin. XV. 238/2 Such *tag strips are found in medium wave receivers, as well as in short wave apparatus. 1960 Practical Wireless XXXVI. 405/1 A tag-strip provides a convenient anchoring point for leads. |
| 1653 Walton Angler iv. 95 There are..divers other kindes of worms..as the marsh-worm, the *tag-tail,..the gilt-tail. 1681 J. Chetham Angler's Vade-m. iv. §5 (1689) 32 Tag-tail is a worm of..a pale Flesh colour, with a yellow Tag on his Tail. 1834 C. A. Davis Lett. J. Downing 311 You are surrounded by such a raft of snuffle-nose, scabby set of tag-tails, that I can't have nothing more to do with you. 1864 Webster, Tag-tail..a person who attaches himself to another against the will of the latter; a dependent; a sycophant; a parasite. 1875 ‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports i. v. xi. §3. 312 The Tagtail is common in good strong clays which are well-manured for turnips, mangold-wurzel, &c. |
| 1602 Carew Cornwall 26 His baites are flies and *Tag-wormes, which the Cornish English terme Angle-touches. 1839 T. C. Hofland Brit. Angler's Man. ii. (1841) 10 The little gilt-tail, or tag-worm, Is of a pale yellow towards the tail. |
Add: [8.] h. Also electronic tag. An electronic device attached to a person or thing for monitoring purposes, esp. to record the movements of mental patients or offenders under house arrest, or to deter shoplifting.
| [1976 Economist 3 Jan. 4/3 Road-pricing is a well-known concept. Other schemes include fitting an electronic identification tag to all public vehicles to give them priority at traffic lights.] 1980 Fortune 25 Feb. 115/2 A determined-enough shoplifter can remove any electronic tag—but not readily. 1982 Times 16 Oct. 9 Instead of going to prison he would wear something. The offender's tag would be a metal band... The offender's tag could contain an electronic receiver. 1983 Discount Store News 25 July 36/1 We are considering a large-scale purchase of a new system of electronic shoplifting control—tags on garments, etc. 1988 Times 9 Feb. 5/1 The tag, designed for the petty criminal, can be fitted to the leg, neck or wrist. It is controlled by a central computer, which rings the offender at home at random intervals. |
i. A nickname or other identifying mark written as the signature of a graffiti artist, often in an elaborately decorative style. Cf. sense 8 f. slang (orig. U.S.).
| 1980 N.Y. Times Mag. 19 Oct. 44/5 It is close to a decade since the advent in New York of graffiti tags, often simply newly minted nicknames or random combinations of letters. 1984 New Yorker 26 Mar. 98/3 The proliferation of ‘writing’..along with its..development from scrawled felt-tip ‘tags’ on city walls to spray-can ‘pieces’..has been a visible part of New York's daily life. 1987 Times 11 Nov. 3/1 Gang members..used coloured paint and red pencils to deface hundreds of buses in Birmingham with their nicknames, or ‘tags’. 1990 Daily Tel. 3 May 4/8 Vandals have imported graffiti materials from America to ape New York ‘tag teams’—gangs who vie to leave their personal trademarks in daring or eye-catching places. |
▪ II. tag, n.2 (and a.)
(tæg)
Also 8 tagg.
[Origin obscure.]
A. n.
1. A children's game in which one player pursues the others until he touches one of them, who in turn becomes pursuer; = tig.
| 1738 Gentl. Mag. VIII. 80/1 In Queen Mary's Reign, Tag was all the Play; where the Lad saves himself by touching of cold Iron. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) I. v. 67 After they were cloyed with hide and seek, they all played tagg, till they were well warmed. 1864 Louie's last term (N.Y.) 179 There's Eva Leonard beckoning to me to come and play Tag. 1903 Smart Set IX. 78 The merry hornet played a game Of tag about my head. |
2. Baseball. The act of putting out a runner by touching him with the ball (or with the gloved hand holding the ball) while he is off base. Also tag-out. Cf. tag v.2 2 a.
| 1941 Baseball Mag. Sept. 439/1 A big league infielder..confessed..‘I've made the tag with the empty glove outstretched.’ Ibid. 439/3 Some stars..use a two-handed tag. 1952 N.Y. Herald-Tribune 16 Aug. 11/1 Only Lockman's cut-off of Hartung's throw and the subsequent tag-out of Mathews at third averted further damage to the home forces. 1971 L. Koppett N.Y. Times Guide Spectator Sports i. 21 The rules forbid a runner to leave the ‘base⁓path’—an imaginary direct line between bases—to avoid a tag. |
B. as adj. Of, pertaining to, or designating a form of professional wrestling between single alternating representatives of two teams (usu. of two men each).
One team-member cannot enter the ring until the other tags or touches hands with him on leaving it.
| 1955 Sun (Baltimore) 16 May 16/7 (heading) 6-man tag bout tops mat card. Ibid. For the first time in the history of wrestling, a six-man tag team bout will be staged. 1963 Economist 7 Sept. 819/1 The confused spectacle of tag wrestling (four in a ring). 1966 Times 28 Feb. (Canada Suppl.) p. xiv/7 The average card in Canada has a tag match (two-man teams with the members taking turns to maul each other). 1972 J. Mosedale Football viii. 115 He teamed with his old idol Nagurski in tag team matches. 1974 Greenville (S. Carolina) News 23 Apr. 8/2 In other bouts, Sandy Scott and Johnny Weaver downed Gene Lewis and Bill White in a special tag team event. |
▪ III. tag
var. of teg, a young sheep.
▪ IV. tag, v.1
(tæg)
[f. tag n.1]
1. trans. To furnish or mark with or as with a tag (in various senses).
| [1436, 1503: see tagging.] 1627 W. Hawkins Apollo Shroving ii. i. 20 What did you giue me? Nothing but a dozen of rotten silke points. You must tagge them better ere I trusse vp your request. 1630 Davenant Just Ital. Wks. (1673) 455, I must e'en go tag Points in a Garret. 1705 Hudibras Rediv. iv. vi, Their Hair tagg'd with Pearls of Sweat. 1707 in W. M{supc}Dowall Hist. Dumfries (1873) 461 The expense of tagging, tongueing, transporting and hanging of the said three bells. 1800 Watkins Biog. Dict. s.v. Bobart, Mr. Granger says that on rejoicing days he used to tag his beard with silver. 1842 Tennyson St. Sim. Styl. 31 All my beard Was tagg'd with icy fringes in the moon. 1899 Conan Doyle Duet iv. 41 The dim watery..sunlight..tagged all her wandering curls with a coppery gleam. |
b. To furnish with a tag, tab, or label; to label. Also spec., to mark and record (animals) so that their migrations can be traced.
(In quot. 1907 to patch, as with a label.)
| 1883 Fisheries Exh. Catal. 203 Photographs..showing..the..tagging the fish, and the process of manipulation of the eggs and young fish at the hatchery. 1896 Daily News 30 Jan. 3/7 After inspection each animal will be tagged and described so that identification will be easily made upon landing. 1907 Macmillan's Mag. May 540 The..cloak of brown sackcloth, sometimes tagged here and there with red and green. 1908 Daily Chron. 26 Feb. 8/5 They should be..wrapped in tissue paper and tagged, so that their covering need not be disturbed in a search for any particular colour. 1953 Scott & Fisher Thousand Geese vi. 58 The expedition was confined to camp, except for short dashes..to tag a few whooper cygnets. 1974 Nature 19 Apr. 642/2 Anglers tagged 954 bass..on the coast of Devon. |
c. To furnish (a speech or composition) with a verbal tag, or tags, as quotations; to supply (prose or blank verse) with rimes.
| 1687 Reflect. on Hind & Panther 32 He hath put them into an unusual dress, and hath tagg'd 'em with Rhimes. 1690 Waller's Poems ii. Pref., Really Verse in those days was but down-right prose, tag'd with rhymes. a 1696 Aubrey Lives (1898) II. 72 (Milton) Dreyden..went to him to have leave to putt his Paradise Lost into a drama in rhymne. Mr. Milton recieved him civilly, and told him he would give him leave to tagge his verses. 1714 Pope Wife of Bath 109 And tag each sentence with My life! my dear! 1823 Examiner 705/2 Canning tags his speeches with poetry. 1841 D'Israeli Amen. Lit. (1867) 369 The Scriptures..were tagged with rhymes for ballads. |
d. Biol. and Chem. = label v. 2.
| 1939 Amer. Jrnl. Physiol. CXXVII. 557 The radioactivity ‘tags’ the atoms. 1947 Ann. Rev. Microbiol. I. 271 The foregoing method is..not limited to ‘tagging’ the antigen by means of glucosamine analyses. 1969 Times 9 Apr. 7/2 DNA sub-units tagged with radioactive marker atoms were fed to bacteria. 1977 Sci. Amer. July 46/3 The antigens were first visualized by tagging their antibodies with a fluorescent dye that could be seen under ultraviolet radiation. |
e. Computers. To label (an item of data) in order to identify it for subsequent processing or retrieval.
| 1959 M. H. Wrubel Primer of Programming for Digital Computers iii. 56 We must..tag the instructions to be modified..so that those instructions and no others will be modified by adding the contents of the loop box. 1971 Computers & Humanities VI. 43 It is a simple matter to enter and tag automatically categories of information indicated by font and/or format... Such tagging is a part of the Dissly service. 1983 Trans. Philol. Soc. 33 This is a program which identifies and tags idioms which it finds in an Idiom list. |
2. To append as an addition or afterthought; to fasten, tack on, or add as a tag to something. (Chiefly of things non-material.)
| 1704 Swift Tale Tub ii. (1709) 39 To this system of Religion were tagged several Subaltern Doctrines. 1785 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. (1794) 10 The barbarous custom..of tagging new names to the old ones. 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle i. 1 Before the time when a gallant action or two tagged half of the letters of the alphabet to a man's name like the tail of a paper kite. 1839–40 W. Irving Wolfert's R. vi. (1855) 87 They could not help expressing their wonder..why the duke should have tagged this super⁓numerary day to the end of the year. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair (Bef. Curtain), I have no other moral than this to tag to the present story of ‘Vanity Fair’. 1916 T. MacDonagh Literature in Ireland 150 The first two verses of the better version..are essential poetry; the three that are tagged on in the song-books are no such thing. |
† 3. To fasten, stitch, or tack together; to join. Also fig. Obs., (exc. as in b).
| 1681 T. Flatman Heraclitus Ridens No. 34 (1713) I. 222 He..has a great share of the Joyner's Trade in tagging Ends of Sedition. 1697 Dryden æneid iii. 777 His clothes were tagg'd with thorns; and filth his limbs besmear'd. 1706 De Foe Jure Div. vii. 140 Tagging Fig-leaf-Vests, To hide his Body from the Sight of Beasts. 17.. Swift (J.), Resistance, and the succession of the house of Hanover, the whig writers perpetually tag together. |
b. To join or string together (verses, rimes).
| 1720 Mrs. Manley Power of Love (1741) p. viii, Adjusted into proper Periods, with necessary Monosyllables to tag them together. 1752 Fielding Amelia viii. v, I have been sometimes longer in tagging a couplet, than I have been in writing a speech. 1849 C. Brontë Shirley III. vii. 159 He writes verses,—tags rhymes. 1887 Lowell Democr. 207 It shows a pretty knack at tagging verses. |
c. intr. To serve as a tag (in a verse, etc.).
| 1878 Browning Poets Croisic lxxiv, Thetis, who Is either Tethys or as good—both tag. |
4. To trail or drag behind; to follow closely, follow in one's train. Freq. const. after, along, (a)round, on. Also fig.
| 1676 Wycherley Pl. Dealer i. i, I hate a harness, and will not tag on in a faction, kissing my leader behind, that another slave may do the like to me. 1768 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) I. 596 They range the world with a boisterous rabble tagging at their heels. c 1794 Search after Perfect i. iv. in New Brit. Theatre (1814) III. 55 Why should a nurse and child come tagging after her? 1822 G. F. Cooper Spy II. xii. 307 Pooh! Pooh!..if you tag after a troop of horse, a small bit of a joke must be borne. 1897 Kipling Capt. Cour. ix. 214 Don't go taggin' araound after them whose eyes bung out with fatness. 1900 Ade More Fables in Slang (1902) 113 The men..wanted to Tag along, but Clara drove them back. 1902 E. Banks Newspaper Girl 24 I'm an American girl and can take care of myself, and I won't have anybody tagging round after me. 1930 J. Dos Passos 42nd Parallel ii. xi. 164 She followed his talk breathless the way she used to tag along after Joe and Alec down to the carbarns when she was little. 1933 D. L. Sayers Murder must Advertise iii. 41 He used to tag round with that de Momerie crowd. 1946 ‘P. Quentin’ Puzzle for Fiends (1947) ix. 70 So you're ready to tag along with me, eh, Gordy? 1948 C. Day Lewis Otterbury Incident 43 Toppy's kid sister..tagged on, which was rather a bore. 1957 Economist 23 Nov. 661/2 There is a Yemeni home public. Its upper crust has been most critical of the recent tendency to tag along with Egypt and do deals, including an arms deal, with Russia. 1960 S. Barstow Kind of Loving i. vi. 126 Two or three more people sitting outside the room where they actually take the blood. Me and the Old Man tag on to the line. 1960 L. Cooper Accomplices i. iv. 37 He was sick of the sight of those damned Batemans... Couldn't we ever go anywhere without them tagging on? 1960 C. Day Lewis Buried Day ii. 44, I would tag around with him, hardly understanding a word he said because of his thick East-Anglian dialect. 1973 J. Pattinson Search Warrant v. 80, I guess I'll tag along. Just for the ride. |
b. trans. To follow closely, to dog. Also spec., to follow as a detective or spy. Cf. tag n.1 13, tail v.1 5 b.
| 1884 C. H. Farnham in Harper's Mag. Feb. 394/1 The Indians are wandering.., tagged at their heels by death and starvation. 1966 ‘A. Hall’ 9th Directive vii. 63 Why did you tag me here? 1975 ― Mandarin Cypher viii. 123 If I thought I was tagged here because Chiang had blown me I was wrong. |
† 5. intr. To hang down or trail like a tag. Obs.
| 1617 J. Moore Mappe Mans Mortalitie ii. viii. 153 They which weare long garments..doe take and gird them vp, lest they should tag in the way. |
6. trans. To cut off tags from (sheep).
| 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) I. 243 Before they are shorn, great care ought to be taken to tag them, as they call it, which is to clip away the Wooll of their Tails, and behind, that the Dung may not hang on it. 1853 T. D. Price Diary 17 Mar. (MS.), Tagged the ewes in the forenoon. 1863 H. S. Randall Pract. Shepherd iii. 141 Tagging sheep before they are let out to grass. a 1890 [implied in tagging]. |
Add: [1.] f. To decorate with a graffiti tag or tags. Also absol. slang (orig. U.S.).
| 1980 N.Y. Times Mag. 19 Oct. 50/5 SE 3, a 19-year-old graffiti graduate, remembers tagging around his family's brownstone on the Upper West Side. 1985 Chicago Tribune 7 July iii. 5/1 For nearly a year, the seven-member Graffiti Groove Crew has been tagging doors, garages, buses, elevated train stations and just about everything else with their logo. 1987 Guardian 14 Oct. 13/5 Danny's friends had talked of how they hated this man..and would love to tag his house. 1990 New Musical Express 28 July 10/1 Rap Kids don't drink much and were once inclined to tag previously paint-free walls. |
▪ V. tag, v.2
[f. tag n.2]
1. trans. To touch or hit (a person), as in the game of tag; = tig v.
| 1878 F. H. Hart Sazerac Lying Club 166 One of them, who had been ‘tagged’ seven times in succession, got tired, and proposed to change to playing house. 1891 Jrnl. Amer. Folk-Lore IV. 222 One player, who is ‘it’, attempts to tag, or touch, one of the other players. 1969 I. & P. Opie Children's Games ii. 64 In Monmouthshire, Gloucestershire, and Oxfordshire, they speak of ‘tagging’ each other. |
2. Baseball and Softball. a. To put out (a runner) by touching him with the ball (or with the gloved hand holding the ball) while he is off base. Also with out. Cf. tag n.2 2.
| 1907 ‘B. L. Standish’ Dick Merriwell's Magnetism xxxviii. 243 He tagged Spratt, and this made the second man out. 1944 E. S. Gardner Case of Black-Eyed Blonde 64 Keep cutting corners, Mason, and I'm going to catch you off first base one of these days, and then I'll tag you out. 1971 L. Koppett N.Y. Times Guide Spectator Sports i. 21 No one is attempting to tag him. 1976 Billings (Montana) Gaz. 28 June 1-c/2 (caption) Dave Konzen, of Buck's Bar slow pitch softball team, is tagged out as he slides against Heidelberg of Tacoma, Wash. 1982 S. B. Flexner Listening to America 34 Someone had the bright idea of forcing the runner out by throwing the ball to the base ahead of him or by tagging him with the ball rather than throwing the ball at him. |
b. intr. to tag up: of a runner to (return to and) touch one's base after a fly ball is caught.
| 1942 Baseball Digest Dec. 52 Fletcher tagged up at third after the catch and then started for the plate. 1971 L. Koppett N.Y. Times Guide Spectator Sports i. 20 The runner ‘tags up’, waits at his base until the ball is caught, and still beats the throw to the next base. 1978 G. Wright Illustr. Handbk. Sporting Terms 89/2 If the ball is caught..the base runners, unless tagging up.., may not advance. |
c. trans. To make a hit or run off (a pitcher).
| 1961 in Webster. 1974 Greenville (S. Carolina) News 23 Apr. 8/5 Seaver was taken out of the game after being tagged for hits by the first two batters in the Pittsburgh sixth. |
Add: [1.] b. Boxing. To strike (an opponent), esp. with a powerful blow. slang (orig. U.S.).
| 1938 N.Y. Times 18 Aug. 24/4 Ambers hooked a left to the jaw... He then tagged the Negro with a hard left to the jaw. 1959 Sat. Even. Post 26 Sept. 75/2 ‘You were very good, Eddie.’..‘No. It was just that no one had ever tagged him before.’ 1986 Ring Aug. 10/3 If he fights me like he fought Colin Jones, I'll beat him. And if I tag him the way I tagged Shufford, he'll go down. |