Spanish Conversation · Level 48
74 words
Spanish word
cola
Pronunciation
IPA/ˈkola/
Meaning
- feminine nountail
Example
El perro movía la cola contento.
The dog was wagging its tail happily.
More examples
El gato metió la cola entre las patas.
The cat put its tail between its legs.
Core concept
A trailing strip or sequence that follows after a main body.
Common phrases
mover la cola
wag one's tail
agitar la cola
shake the tail
esconder la cola
hide one's tail
Similar words
rabo: Forms a thicker, muscular tail attached to an animal's hindquarters.
colita: Appears as a small, delicate tail or tail tip, often described as cute.
Definition in Spanish
Parte posterior alargada que sigue al cuerpo de un animal; por extensión, término usado para una fila de personas o cosas que se suceden una tras otra.
Word origin
From Latin cauda 'tail', the word retains the concrete sense of an animal's tail and developed a broader sense for any sequence that trails after something else.
Usage tips
- The word appears in fixed collocations such as cola de caballo 'ponytail' and hacer cola 'to stand in line', so surrounding words usually show whether it means a physical tail or a line of people.