Definition of "fantail" [fan•tail]

• Any of a breed of domestic pigeons having a rounded, fan-shaped tail. (noun)
• Any of several birds of the genus Rhipidura of eastern Asia and Australia, having a long, fan-shaped tail. (noun)
• Any of a breed of goldfish having a wide, fanlike double tail fin. (noun)
• A fanlike tail or end. (noun)
• Nautical The stern overhang of a ship. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "SEAL snipers, who were positioned on a deck at the stern of the Bainbridge, an area known as the fantail, had the three pirates in their sights."
• "I have seen more people fishing off the "fantail" of their jetskis."
• "Now that precisely coincides with the 'fantail' deer which some old-time hunters of my acquaintance say they have killed in the Black Hills country, though scientists say there never was any fantail deer."