shavetail

[ sheyv-teyl ]

noun

, Slang.

1. U.S. Army. a second lieutenant.
2. a young, newly broken mule.

Word History and Origins

Origin of shavetail¹

1840–50, Americanism; shave + tail ¹; originally in reference to unbroken army mules, whose tails were shaved for identification

Example Sentences

If Grove rolls in late, he has to prowl Intel's jammed lot looking for a space just like any shavetail engineer.

From Time Magazine Archive

After surpassing Ulysses S. Grant's record, "worst in the Academy's history,"* he wins his spurs at Bull Run, and, after a clerk's error inadvertently jumps him from a shavetail lieutenant to brigadier general, saves the war by leading three successive cavalry charges, considerably flustering Rebel Jeb Stuart and virtually annihilating his own Michigan Brigade.

From Time Magazine Archive

To several of us enlisted combat correspondents, he was "Little Artie," the mouse-quiet Reserve shavetail.

From Time Magazine Archive

The answer, essentially, is always the same: from John F. Kennedy to William Westmoreland to the freshest shavetail just off the jet at Bien Hoa, "They" underestimated Ho.

From Time Magazine Archive

Ford first noticed that he was unusual when a shavetail at Camp Grant.

From Time Magazine Archive