From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcoattailscoat‧tails /ˈkəʊt-teɪlz $ ˈkoʊt-/ noun [plural] 1 EFFECT/INFLUENCEif you achieve something on someone’s coattails, you achieve it because of the other person’s power or successon somebody’s coattails A number of Republican congressmen were elected on Bush’s coattails.2 DCCthe cloth at the back of a tailcoat that is divided into two pieces
Examples from the Corpus
coattails• There will not be any Clinton coattails for Mark Warner.• The ideal of caring for aging parents is sufficiently strong that even the most undeserving aging parents can ride its coattails.• Jeffries was trying to cut him to ribbons; and here was Gordon trying to hold fast to Jeffries' coattails.• In Alderman McDonough, the ward leader, Daley had a political godfather with upward mobility and long coattails.• Alarcon rose to power on Bucaram's coattails. 