also tailpipe, 1757, "small pipe fixed at the swell of a musket to receive the ramrod," from tail (n.1) + pipe (n.). From 1832 as "suction pipe of a pump;" 1907 as "exhaust pipe of an automobile."
Entries linking to tail-pipe
tail n.1
"hindmost part of an animal," Old English tægl, tægel "a tail," from Proto-Germanic *tagla- (source also of Old High German zagal, German Zagel "tail," dialectal German Zagel "penis," Old Norse tagl "horse's tail," Gothic tagl "hair"), from PIE *doklos, from suffixed form of root *dek- (2) "something long and thin" (referring to such things as fringe, lock of hair, horsetail; source also of Old Irish dual "lock of hair," Sanskrit dasah "fringe, wick").
According to OED, the primary sense, at least in Germanic, seems to have been "hairy tail," or just "tuft of hair," but already in Old English the word was applied to the hairless "tails" of worms, bees, etc. But Buck writes that the common notion is of "long, slender shape." As an adjective from 1670s.
Meaning "reverse side of a coin" (opposite the side with the head) is from 1680s; that of "backside of a person, buttocks" is recorded from c. 1300; slang sense of "pudenda" is from mid-14c.; that of "woman as sex object" is from 1933, earlier "act of copulation" with a prostitute (1846). Of descending strokes of letters, from 1590s.
Tails "coat with tails" is from 1857. The tail-race (1776) is the part of a mill race below the wheel. To turn tail "take flight" (1580s) originally was a term in falconry. The image of the tail wagging the dog is attested from 1907. Another Old English word for "tail" was steort (see stark).
pipe n.1
Old English pipe "simple tubular musical wind instrument," also "tube for conveying water," from Vulgar Latin *pipa "a pipe, tube-shaped musical instrument" (source also of Italian pipa, French pipe, Old Frisian pipe, German Pfeife, Danish pibe, Swedish pipa, Dutch pijp), a back-formation from Latin pipare "to chirp or peep," of imitative origin.
All the tubular senses ultimately derive from the meaning "small reed, whistle." From late 14c. as "a tube or duct of the body." From mid-15c. as "one of the tubes from which the tones of an organ are produced." Meaning "narrow tubular device for smoking" is recorded by 1590s. As "the sound of the voice," 1570s.
Pipe-bomb, "home-made bomb contained in a metal pipe," is attested from 1960. Pipe-cleaner, "piece of wire coated with tufted material," is recorded from 1863. Pipe-clay "white clay suitable for making smoking pipes" is attested by 1777.