with his tail between his legs
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Very dejected, quite downcast. The allusion is to dogs.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “with his tail between his legs” mean?
Very dejected, quite downcast. The allusion is to dogs.
Is “with his tail between his legs” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.