coat-trailing

[ koht-trey-ling ]

noun

, British.

1. behavior that is deliberately provocative.

Word History and Origins

Origin of coat-trailing¹

First recorded in 1925–30; from the phrase trail one's coat, provoking someone to step on it

Example Sentences

The book to some extent invited—and Kingsley availed himself of the opportunity in a far more than sufficient degree—that "coat-trailing" which, as has been said, inevitably in its turn provokes "coat-treading": and it has been abused from various quarters.

From Project Gutenberg