pigtail

plural pigtails · alternative pig-tail

1. literallyThe tail of a pig.
2. Tobacco twisted into a string or roll.First known use 17th c.

   One person […] continued constantly to ply him with the very best pig-tail tobacco, which he had most carefully cut in very small pieces purposely for him.

   1828, JT Smith, Nollekens and His Times, Century Hutchinson, published 1986, page 265

3. A braided plait of hair; queue.First known use 18th c.

   Let padded breasts, high coat collars, stiff stocks, broad-shouldered straps, tight belts, trowser-straps and boots be consigned to the tomb of pigtails and powder.

   1861 May 1, “Volunteer Uniforms”, in The New York Times, volume X, number 3000, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 09 Sep 2025, page 4, column 5

   2 more examples

   Such a filthy spectacle as we presented I have never seen before or since, and it will perhaps give some idea of the almost superhuman dignity of Billali's appearance when I say that, coughing, half-drowned, and covered with mud and green slime as he was, with his beautiful beard coming to a dripping point, like a Chinaman's freshly-oiled pigtail, he still looked venerable and imposing.

   1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “Speculations”, in She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC, page 123

   The Big Man came on. His shoulders were naked, his clothes stripped off him by the explosion, Bond supposed, but the black silk tie had remained and it showed round the thick neck and streamed behind the head like a Chinaman's pigtail.

   1954, Ian Fleming, “Terror By The Sea”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 240

   1. especiallyEither of a pair of braids or tails worn on the sides of the head.

      [I]t was something that every schoolboy of my generation almost `had' to do, as obligatory a proof of impending manliness as scrumping apples or pulling girls' pigtails.

      2000, Bill Oddie, Gripping Yarns, page 12

   2. in pluralA hairstyle with a pair of pigtails.

      Synonyms: bunches

   3. colloquialin pluralA person who wears pigtails.

      […] Chinese, whom he called “pigtails”; or Indians, whom he dismissed as “baboos.”

      [2021 October 26, Peter Baker, “The Case Against Winston Churchill”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

4. businessA short length of twisted electrical wire.First known use 20th c.

   Synonyms: tail

5. The flamingo flower (anthurium)
6. medicineTwisted stent terminal; stent-end, usually but not necessarily a different fastened part.

present singular third person pigtails · participle present pigtailing · participle past pigtailed · past pigtailed · alternative pig-tail

1. businessTo connect wires of a circuit by means of a short additional wire.