ratstail (ratstal)

1. Same as rat - tail. 2. A slender rib or tongue tapering to a point, used to reinforce or stiffen a bar, plate, or the like, as on the back of a silver spoon. rattt, n. An obsolete form of rat1. rat-tail (rat'tāl), n. and a. I. n . In farriery : IMG:content-1668.png:[blocks in formation] 4973 the United States and Ischæmum laxum ( An dropogon nervosus ) in Australia. rat-tailed (rat'tāld), a. 1. Having a tail like a rat's; having a rat-tail, as a horse. Here comes the wonderful one-ho shay, Drawn by a rat - tailed , ewe-necked bay. O. W. Holmes , The Deacon's Masterpiece. 2. Like a rat's tail in shape. - Rat-tailed kangaroo-rat, Hypsiprymnus murinus , an Australian marsupial. - Rat-tailed larva or maggot, the larva of certain syrphid flies, ending in a long slender stigma toph or ous Rat-tailed Maggot and Fly of Eristalis tenax. (Line shows natural size of fly.) tail of two telescopic joints, forming an organ which enables the larva to breathe from the surface while lying hidden in mud, etc. The larva of Eristalis tenax is an example.-Rat-tailed serpent, Bothrops lanceolatus, a very venomous American pit-viper.- Rat-tailed shrew. See shrew.