Meaning

3 senses
  1. (intransitive)To swing the back of a vehicle (originally an aircraft) from side to side.

    As we approached the runway, the pilot fishtailed slightly to reduce landing speed.

  2. (transitive)To cause the back of (a vehicle) to swing from side to side.

  3. (intransitive)To move with the tail swinging from side to side in this way.

More definitions
  • slow down by moving the tail sideways

Origin

From Middle English fisch tayle, equivalent to fish + tail.

From Middle English fisch tayle, equivalent to fish + tail.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

fishtails, fishtailing, fishtailed, fishtailed
Base formfishtail · to fishtail
3rd person singularfishtails
Present participlefishtailing
Past simplefishtailed
Past participlefishtailed

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theyfishtail
he, she, itfishtails

Past simpleLesson

all personsfishtailed

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave fishtailed
he, she, ithas fishtailed

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill fishtail

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
fishtail — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto