is—tah-dah!—our ever-late and never-
punished executive secretary.tail-endn. the back end of something or
someone. He was at the tail-end of the
long line. Tracy fell down on her tail-
end.
tailgate 1. tv. & in. to follow (someone) too
closely in a car. That guy tailgating me
is drunk, I think. Ease off a little; you’re
tailgating. 2. in. to have a tailgate party.
We planned to tailgate before the game,
but it was massively cold. The people
who were tailgating next to us asked to
borrow our salt.
tailgate partyn. a small party held on the
folded down tailgate of a station wagon
in a parking lot. (Something that is done
before a ball game, concert, etc.) They
had a tailgate party before the Bears game.
The tailgate party was a success, except
for the cold.
tailor-maden. a machine-made cigarette.
(From an expression for something, such
as an article of clothing, that is custom
made.) They used to call these things
tailor-made, meaning professionally made,
as opposed to homemade. The cowboy
in the movie refused to smoke a tailor-
made.
tailsn. a tuxedo with long tails. Shall I
wear my tails? Ralph had to rent tails
for the evening.
take 1. n. a section of a film that is pro-
nounced acceptable just after it is shot.
It’s a take. Get it over to the lab. After
seven straight takes the crew demanded a
break. 2. n. the amount of money taken
in at some event; the money received for
the tickets that have been purchased.
What was the take for the concert? The
take was much larger than we expected.
- tv. to cheat or deceive someone.
That clerk tried to take me. When they
think you’re going to count your change,
they won’t try to take you. 4. tv. to defeat
someone, as in a fight. Max thought
he could take the guy, but he wasn’t sure.
I know I can take you. Make my day!
take a bath (on something)tv. to have
large financial losses on an investment.
Fred took a bath on that gold mining
stock. The broker warned me that I
might take a bath if I bought this stuff.
take a beatingtv. to be beaten, bested, or
defeated. The candidate took a beating
in the runoffs. The team took quite a
beating.
take a breaktv. to stop working for a rest
period. Let’s take a break here. Be back
in five minutes. I’ve got to take a break
before I drop.
take a chill pilltv. to calm down; to re-
lax. (See also chill (out).) Take a chill
pill, man! You are too excited. The po-
lice officer told Jim to take a chill pill and
answer the questions.
take a crack at something and have a
crack at somethingtv. to take a try at
something. She had a crack at food
preparation, but that wasn’t for her. Let
me take a crack at it.
take a crapGo to take a shit.
take a dig at someone and take a jab
at someonetv. to insult or needle some-
one. Why did you take a jab at Sam?
You’re always taking digs at people who
think they’re your friends.
take a dirt naptv. to die and be buried.
I don’t want to end up taking a dirt nap
during this operation. Isn’t Tom a little
young to take a dirt nap?
take a diveGo to take a fall.
take a dumpGo to take a shit.
take a fall and take a dive 1. tv. to fake
being knocked out in a boxing match.
Wilbur wouldn’t take a fall. He doesn’t
have it in him. The boxer took a dive in
the second round and made everyone sus-
picious. 2. tv. to get arrested. (Under-
world. See also take the fall.) Ziggy
took a fall for the bank robbery. I didn’t
wanna take a dive, but the cop left me no
choice.
take a flyer (on something)tv. to take a
chance on something. Kim was very
reckless when she took a f lyer on that air-
line stock. Fred is too wise an investor to
take a f lyer on some story stock like that.tail-end