swallowtail

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English

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 Swallowtail butterfly on Wikipedia
 Swallowtail (flag) on Wikipedia
 Tailcoat on Wikipedia
A swallow with a characteristic forked tail
An eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly

Etymology

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From swallow +‎ tail.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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swallowtail (plural swallowtails)

  1. The forked tail of a swallow.
  2. Anything, such as a burgee, of a similar forked shape.
  3. A type of tailcoat with two long tapering tails.
    • 1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, chapter I, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., →OCLC, page 01:
      It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.
  4. Any of various butterflies of the family Papilionidae, many of which have a long extension to each hindwing.
    • 2020, Paul Mendez, Rainbow Milk, Dialogue Books (2021), page 8:
      Claudette visit me [] and the biggest, most beautiful black-and-yellow Jamaican swallowtail butterfly follow behind she, like it give us it little blessing.

Derived terms

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Translations

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