turn tail
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.30 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To turn away from someone or something, in preparation for running away; to reverse direction; to leave or flee.
Example Sentences
- "A box-lobby lion or a Regent-street animal . . . will never bite, and, if you offer to attack him manfully, will fairly turn tail and sneak off."
- "[H]e stormed at me all through the lessons in a very violent manner of scolding, [...] I was often tempted to turn tail, but held my ground for all that, and got some profit of my lessons; [...]"
- "Morning found us still vainly toiling through the passage. At last, in despair, we turned tail, ran out to sea, and sailed clear round Bassakanna to our objective, Malu."
- "Five of the enemy planes were shot down and the remainder turned tail."
- "The men blew up two oil pipelines in eastern Libya near the rebel-held Sarir fields, before turning tail and speeding back west."