tales
Americannoun
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(used with a plural verb) persons chosen to serve on the jury when the original panel is insufficiently large: originally selected from among those present in court.
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(used with a singular verb) the order or writ summoning such jurors.
noun
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(functioning as plural) a group of persons summoned from among those present in court or from bystanders to fill vacancies on a jury panel
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(functioning as singular) the writ summoning such jurors
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of tales
1300–50; Middle English < Medieval Latin tālēs ( dē circumstantibus ) such (of the bystanders)
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.
There are scripted, story-specific beats, but the cards pulled — and the tales they tell — is, of course, randomized.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 10, 2026
"Things that just a few months ago you might have considered buying have now become dreams and fairy tales," he told AFP.
From Barron's • Jun. 7, 2026
Send your tales from the trek to [email protected].
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
Gen Z and Gen Alpha aren’t so fatigued by Monkey’s Paw tales because horror’s cyclical nature hasn’t yet completely revamped this trope for a new era.
From Salon • Jun. 4, 2026
The 588th produced their own literary magazine, and the infinitely creative navigator Zhenya Rudneva sometimes gathered everyone around her at the airfield while she recited fairy tales.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
