tall

American  

[tawl] / tɔl /

adjective

taller, tallest

1. having a relatively great height; of more than average stature: tall grass.

   a tall woman;

   tall grass.

   Antonyms:

   short

2. having stature or height as specified.

   a man six feet tall.

3. large in amount or degree; considerable.

   a tall price;

   Swinging that deal is a tall order.

4. extravagant; difficult to believe.

   a tall tale.

5. high-flown; grandiloquent.

   He engages in so much tall talk, one never really knows what he's saying.

6. having more than usual length; long and relatively narrow.

   He carried a tall walking stick.

7. (of a drink) consisting of liquor mixed with other ingredients and served in a large glass, as a cocktail.

   We watched as he put together a Mamie Taylor, a tall drink with Scotch, ginger beer, and lime.

8. Tall, (of beverages at Starbucks coffee shops) being of a small size equal to 12 ounces (354 milliliters).

9. Archaic. valiant.

10. Obsolete.

    1. seemly; proper.

    2. fine; handsome.

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adverb

1. in a proud, confident, or erect manner: to walk tall.

   to stand tall;

   to walk tall.

noun

1. Tall, (at Starbucks coffee shops) a small size of beverage equal to 12 ounces (354 milliliters).

tall British  

/ tɔːl /

adjective

1. of more than average height

2. 1. (postpositive) having a specified height

      a woman five feet tall

   2. ( in combination )

      a twenty-foot-tall partition

3. informal exaggerated or incredible

   a tall story

4. informal difficult to accomplish

   a tall order

5. an archaic word for excellent

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tall Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing tall

• walk tall

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Related Words

See high.

Other Word Forms

• tallness noun

Etymology

Origin of tall

First recorded before 1000; Middle English: “big, bold, comely, proper, ready,” Old English getæl (plural getale ) “quick, ready, competent”; cognate with Old High German gizal “quick”

Example Sentences

A surge of water over six stories tall washes away the Sangkalang suspension bridge, a crucial link over the Teesta River, and one of more than 30 bridges that were destroyed.

From The Wall Street Journal

Investigators describe the suspect as a man in his 30s with black hair and brown eyes, about 6 feet tall and weighing 220 pounds.

From Los Angeles Times

Up close, she’s shorter than you expected—just five feet tall, in tennis shoes—and she carries the scents of a kitchen.

From Literature

“I’m not leaving here until I win one of those green lizards. Did you see it? The one with the row of spikes down its back, that’s as tall as me?”

From Literature

Similar to Captain, she was wider than she was tall, like a skunk who’d been squashed beneath the tire of a speeding car.

From Literature

Related Words

• big
• great
• lanky
• rangy
• soaring
• towering