- plural of tale.
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
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.
Speaking afterwards, Swayne told the BBC, Hilaire Belloc's cautionary tales were his "favourite reading and a compendium of wisdom".
From BBC • Jun. 24, 2026
More tales of “bad bros” from Quentin Fottrell:
From MarketWatch • Jun. 24, 2026
Louisa May Alcott’s tales of the March family helped form generations of readers even before it set the template for the young-adult genre.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 19, 2026
“Time and Water” touches on the epic verse called rimurs, passed down via chanted song by Icelandic women, their descriptive, sorrowful tales like dispatches from previous ages.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
It was hard to trust the stories and half-told tales that seemed more like rumor than fact.
From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone
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.
