long tail

British

noun

commerce the segment of a market representing the large number of products that sell in small quantities, considered by some to be of greater financial value than the few products that sell in very large quantities

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of long tail

C21: from the appearance of typical sales patterns on a graph

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Wagging his long tail, he ran over and started barking and growling at the flouncing monkeys.

From Literature

His long tail was fanning the air, and he was whimpering and inching along on the ground, one foot at a time.

From Literature

Bain described a “K-shaped” market in private equity, with “elite funds” continuing to perform well while the long tail of other funds “muddles through.”

From The Wall Street Journal

“It’s the flip side of how these franchises became so massive and had such a long tail,” he said in a recent video call with The Times, discussing how each generation still finds “Star Wars,” “Raiders,” “E.T.,”

From Los Angeles Times

It was thin and small, with a fluffy long tail.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023