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pigtail

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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A young girl with unbraided pigtails.

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From pig +‎ tail.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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pigtail (plural pigtails)

  1. (literally) The tail of a pig.
  2. Tobacco twisted into a string or roll. [from 17th c.]
    • 1828, JT Smith, Nollekens and His Times, Century Hutchinson, published 1986, page 265:
      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.
  3. A braided plait of hair; queue. [from 18th c.]
    • 1861 May 1, “Volunteer Uniforms”, in The New York Times‎[1], volume X, number 3000, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 9 September 2025, page 4, column 5:
      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.
    • 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:
      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.
    • 1954, Ian Fleming, “Terror By The Sea”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 240:
      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.
    1. (now especially) Either of a pair of braids or tails worn on the sides of the head.
      • 2000, Bill Oddie, Gripping Yarns, page 12:
        [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.
    2. (in the plural) A hairstyle with a pair of pigtails.
    3. (colloquial, in the plural) A person who wears pigtails. [from 1911]
      • [2021 October 26, Peter Baker, “The Case Against Winston Churchill”, in The New York Times‎[2], →ISSN:
        […] Chinese, whom he called “pigtails”; or Indians, whom he dismissed as “baboos.”]
  4. (electrical engineering) A short length of twisted electrical wire. [from 20th c.]
    Synonym: tail
  5. The flamingo flower (anthurium)
  6. (medicine) Twisted stent terminal; stent-end, usually but not necessarily a different fastened part.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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pigtail (third-person singular simple present pigtails, present participle pigtailing, simple past and past participle pigtailed)

  1. (electrical engineering) To connect wires of a circuit by means of a short additional wire.

Further reading

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