"put salt on someone's tail" meaning in English

See put salt on someone's tail in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Forms: puts salt on someone's tail [present, singular, third-person], putting salt on someone's tail [participle, present], put salt on someone's tail [participle, past], put salt on someone's tail [past]
Etymology: Alluding to an old folk saying about how to catch birds. Head templates: {{en-verb|put<,,put> salt on someone's tail}} put salt on someone's tail (third-person singular simple present puts salt on someone's tail, present participle putting salt on someone's tail, simple past and past participle put salt on someone's tail)
  1. To capture or pin down someone. Synonyms: lay salt on someone's tail
    Sense id: en-put_salt_on_someone's_tail-en-verb-ejyy8pc- Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_text": "Alluding to an old folk saying about how to catch birds.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "puts salt on someone's tail",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "putting salt on someone's tail",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "put salt on someone's tail",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "put salt on someone's tail",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "put<,,put> salt on someone's tail"
      },
      "expansion": "put salt on someone's tail (third-person singular simple present puts salt on someone's tail, present participle putting salt on someone's tail, simple past and past participle put salt on someone's tail)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2013, Edward Short, Newman and his Family, page 322:",
          "text": "This accurately describes the many biographers who have tried and failed to get close enough to Newman to put salt on his tail.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To capture or pin down someone."
      ],
      "id": "en-put_salt_on_someone's_tail-en-verb-ejyy8pc-",
      "links": [
        [
          "capture",
          "capture"
        ],
        [
          "pin down",
          "pin down"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "lay salt on someone's tail"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "put salt on someone's tail"
}

{
  "etymology_text": "Alluding to an old folk saying about how to catch birds.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "puts salt on someone's tail",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "putting salt on someone's tail",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "put salt on someone's tail",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "put salt on someone's tail",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "put<,,put> salt on someone's tail"
      },
      "expansion": "put salt on someone's tail (third-person singular simple present puts salt on someone's tail, present participle putting salt on someone's tail, simple past and past participle put salt on someone's tail)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2013, Edward Short, Newman and his Family, page 322:",
          "text": "This accurately describes the many biographers who have tried and failed to get close enough to Newman to put salt on his tail.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To capture or pin down someone."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "capture",
          "capture"
        ],
        [
          "pin down",
          "pin down"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "lay salt on someone's tail"
    }
  ],
  "word": "put salt on someone's tail"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-11-21 using wiktextract (94ba7e1 and 5dea2a6). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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