turn tail

turn tail
verb
flee; take to one's heels; cut and run
-

If you see this man, run!

-

The burglars escaped before the police showed up

• Syn:
• Derivationally related forms: ↑runaway (for: ↑run away), ↑lam (for: ↑lam)
• Hypernyms: ↑leave, ↑go forth, ↑go away
• Hyponyms: ↑flee, ↑fly, ↑take flight, ↑skedaddle
• Verb Frames:
-

Something ——s

-

Somebody ——s

-

Somebody ——s PP

* * *

RUN AWAY, flee, bolt, make off, take to one's heels, cut and run, beat a (hasty) retreat; informal scram, scarper, skedaddle, vamoose.
→ tail

* * *

phrasal
1. : to run away (as from danger or opposition)

might have to carry him out on a stretcher, but he wouldn't turn tail again — Hamilton Basso

: retreat from a position

administration turned tail and ran — Elmer Davis

2. : to turn one's back : abandon, forsake, reject — used with on or upon

fellows who turned their tails on the land — John Galsworthy

* * *

turn tail
To turn round (and run off)
• • •
Main Entry: ↑tail
————————
turn tail see under ↑tail1
• • •
Main Entry: ↑turn

* * *

turn tail phrase
to run away from a dangerous situation
Thesaurus: to escape from a place or situationsynonym to runsynonym
Main entry: tail

* * *

informal turn around and run away

* * *

turn tail
informal : to turn around and run away from danger, trouble, etc.

He turned tail and ran from the fight.

You can't just turn tail and run from your problems.

• • •
Main Entry: ↑tail

* * *

turn ˈtail idiom
to run away from a fight or dangerous situation

•

When they heard the sirens, they turned tail and ran.

Main entry: ↑tailidiom

Useful english dictionary. 2012.

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Synonyms:
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • turn tail — ► turn tail informal turn round and run away. Main Entry: ↑turn …   English terms dictionary

  • turn tail — index retreat Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

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  • turn tail — verb To flee; to run away; to leave. He was the sort of man who, faced with the prospect of marriage, decided to turn tail and run rather than commit …   Wiktionary

  • turn tail — informal to run away, usually because you are frightened. When I saw him my first impulse was to turn tail and flee …   New idioms dictionary

  • turn tail (and run) — tv. to flee; to run away in fright. □ I couldn’t just turn tail and run, but I wasn’t going to fight that monster either. □ Sometimes turning tail is the only sensible thing to do …   Dictionary of American slang and colloquial expressions

  • turn tail — phrasal to turn away so as to flee < turned tail and ran > …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • turn tail — Synonyms and related words: abscond, absquatulate, beat a retreat, bolt, clear out, come about, cut and run, decamp, depart, desert, elope, fetch about, flee, fly, fugitate, go AWOL, go about, heel, jump, jump bail, levant, make off, pivot, pivot …   Moby Thesaurus

  • turn tail — informal turn round and run away. → turn …   English new terms dictionary

  • turn tail — {v. phr.}, {informal} To run away from trouble or danger. * /When the bully saw my big brother, he turned tail and ran./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

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