coattail
English
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coattail
Where it comes from
From coat + tail.
noun coattails · coat-tail
- The flap at the back of a coat that hangs down, sometimes below the waist. At twilight in the summer[…]the mice come out. They[…]eat the luncheon crumbs. Mr. Checkly, for instance, always brought his dinner in a paper parcel in his coat-tail pocket, and ate it when so disposed, sprinkling crumbs lavishly[…]on the floor.
- Success of a figure, organization or movement that transfers to those who associate with it. to ride the coattails
verb coattails · coattailing · coattailed · coat-tail
- To ride the coattails of. It wasn't like I just coattailed the auditor's work. Based on the names on the time cards, I was able to conduct interviews with the employees whose labor was mischarged, and they told me which contracts they had actually worked on.
Translations
Every language
noun flap at the back of a coat
| Español | faldón trasero |
|---|---|
| Français | pan |
| Deutsch | Schoß, Frackschoß |
noun transferred success
| Español | éxito transferido |
|---|
Talk about this word "coattail." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/coattail. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. coattail. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/coattail "coattail." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/coattail.
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BibTeX
@misc{coattail_2026,
title = {coattail},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/coattail},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
