as in chased
to go after or on the track of
detectives tailed the suspect to see where he was going at that time of the evening
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of tailed
The hit was outsourced to a hulking Estonian assassin, Imre (the Butcher) Arakas, who arrived at Dublin Airport on April 3, 2017, and was immediately tailed by officers from the An Garda Síochána’s Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, who arrested him the next day.
—
Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 30 Apr. 2026
Players who find themselves being tailed tend to take it first as a badge of honor.
—Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 22 Apr. 2026
Plan was to be bushy tailed & beauty rested, as I was meant to head straight to glam for a slot with our beloved Drew Barrymore upon landing.
—Zack Sharf, Variety, 10 Apr. 2026
Plan was to be bushy tailed & beauty rested [sic], as I was meant to head straight to glam for a slot with our beloved @DrewBarrymore, upon landing.
—Chanel Vargas, InStyle, 10 Apr. 2026
San Francisco Police Department The vehicle fled from the Palace of Fine Arts while being tracked by drone and tailed by plainclothes officers, police said.
—Carlos E. Castañeda, CBS News, 6 Apr. 2026
Vast numbers of gregarious Central Texas grackles — the separate common and great-tailed species — assemble by the thousands at night, especially during the winter.
—Michael Barnes, Austin American Statesman, 18 Feb. 2026
The Bride learns to view herself as a monster after a night of dancing at a club ends in violence, forcing the couple to hit the road, where they're tailed by a detective (played by Gyllenhaal's husband, Peter Sarsgaard), and his brilliant but long-suffering secretary (Penélope Cruz).
—Sydney Bucksbaum, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Feb. 2026
After the showing, the crowd high-tailed it over to Genghis Cohen on Fairfax Avenue for a packed after party.
—Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 30 Jan. 2026
Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 30 Apr. 2026
Players who find themselves being tailed tend to take it first as a badge of honor.
—Jess Myers, Twin Cities, 22 Apr. 2026
Plan was to be bushy tailed & beauty rested, as I was meant to head straight to glam for a slot with our beloved Drew Barrymore upon landing.
—Zack Sharf, Variety, 10 Apr. 2026
Plan was to be bushy tailed & beauty rested [sic], as I was meant to head straight to glam for a slot with our beloved @DrewBarrymore, upon landing.
—Chanel Vargas, InStyle, 10 Apr. 2026
San Francisco Police Department The vehicle fled from the Palace of Fine Arts while being tracked by drone and tailed by plainclothes officers, police said.
—Carlos E. Castañeda, CBS News, 6 Apr. 2026
Vast numbers of gregarious Central Texas grackles — the separate common and great-tailed species — assemble by the thousands at night, especially during the winter.
—Michael Barnes, Austin American Statesman, 18 Feb. 2026
The Bride learns to view herself as a monster after a night of dancing at a club ends in violence, forcing the couple to hit the road, where they're tailed by a detective (played by Gyllenhaal's husband, Peter Sarsgaard), and his brilliant but long-suffering secretary (Penélope Cruz).
—Sydney Bucksbaum, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Feb. 2026
After the showing, the crowd high-tailed it over to Genghis Cohen on Fairfax Avenue for a packed after party.
—Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 30 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tailed
Verb
-
Bo Bichette led off the bottom of the first with a home run against right-hander Zack Littell, and the Mets chased him from the game in the fourth inning.—
Abbey Mastracco,
New York Daily News,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Officers briefly chased the suspect through Highland Park, but backed off.—
Matthew Rodriguez,
CBS News,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Craig Adair, vice president of development at Open Road Renewables, which has pursued renewable energy projects in several states, has fielded a range of concerns over the years — from how soil could be contaminated to the possibility of electromagnetic fields causing cancer.—
Anna Clark,
ProPublica,
24 Apr. 2026
-
Officers pursued him through nearby residential and parking lot areas before taking him into custody, the release said.—
Aurora Beacon-News,
Chicago Tribune,
24 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Police tracked Jackson to his girlfriend’s apartment in Opa-locka.—
Grethel Aguila,
Miami Herald,
29 Apr. 2026
-
The Falcon tracked the A350 by maintaining specific distance intervals (as near as around 100 meters) in order to collect samples from the exhaust gases.—
Srishti Gupta,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
After shift supervisor would come shift manager, followed by assistant manager, followed by manager, district manager.—
Saïd Sayrafiezadeh,
New Yorker,
26 Apr. 2026
-
Pritchard followed with clutch 3-pointers to send Boston into the fourth quarter with a 79-74 lead.—
Zack Cox,
Boston Herald,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Dining at restaurant wars Soon thereafter, we were escorted back outside to enter the competing restaurant, Tierra Reina.—
Heidi Finley,
Charlotte Observer,
28 Apr. 2026
-
He was escorted by law enforcement at all times.—
Thao Nguyen,
USA Today,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tailed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tailed. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
