Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The loose back part of a coat that hangs below the waist.
- noun The skirts of a formal or dress coat.
- idiom (on the coattails of) As a result of the success of another.
- idiom (on the coattails of) Immediately following or as a direct result of.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun the loose back flap of a coat that hangs below the waist.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The
flap at the back of acoat thathangs down, sometimes below thewaist . - noun usually in the plural, figuratively Success of a figure, organization or movement that transfers to those who associate with it.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the loose back flap of a coat that hangs below the waist
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word coattail.
Examples
-
She had been laughin 'at a man 'cause his coattail was a-flappin' so funny whilst he was dancin ', and dem two Jezebels thought she was makin' fun of dem.
Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Georgia Narratives, Part 4 Work Projects Administration
-
At least that's the hope of Republican strategists, who for weeks have talked about a so-called coattail effect: the theory that a big win for the popular Republican governor could mean good things for the GOP in other statewide races.
Home 2010
-
Coattail or not to coattail, that is the question in NH NH Democrats have the money so far for 2010 mid-terms View all » ...
WN.com - Articles related to Sensex trips on rate hike, banks lead fall 2010
-
Coattail or not to coattail, that is the question in NH NH Democrats have the money so far for 2010 mid-terms View all » ...
WN.com - Articles related to Donald Trump to re-launchThe Apprentice for those who have lost jobs 2010
-
At least that's the hope of Republican strategists, who for weeks have talked about a so-called coattail effect: the theory that a big win for the popular Republican governor could mean good things for the GOP in other statewide races.
Home 2009
-
At least that's the hope of Republican strategists, who for weeks have talked about a so-called coattail effect: the theory that a big win for the popular Republican governor could mean good things for the GOP in other statewide races.
Home 2009
-
Collectors also should look for what Kosovich calls coattail buttons or signs.
kstp.com - MORE NEWS 2008
-
It is doubtful that "coattail" is going to become a causative verb in Vermont any time soon.
Mark Wiznitzer: Vermont Dress Code Election 2008: No Ties, No Tails 2008
-
All in all, just the Newt's way of working the media so that if he doesn't get another chance at further damaging our country with political partisanship and using Sarah's coattail to get there he'll send Sarah as the substitue "malleable" obstructionist - scary indeed.
-
La Toya is tapping into a medium she has favored throughout her career: familial coattail riding.
Celebrity Apprentices — They’re Just Like Us! (Except Not Really) 2011
gulyasrobi commented on the word coattail
"on the coattails of" in HU = "vki/vmi farvizén (beevezni)"
September 18, 2012