- 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.
Actress and author Celia Imrie will speak about her memoir Elegant Hustler, in which she shares tales from her travels, from Arctic quests for the Northern Lights to exploring India's railways.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
He called on him to quit and injected further tales of alleged cruelty into the discussion.
From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2026
And like all fairy tales, it has something to tell us about how we are transformed as we encounter the strange and terrifying and magnificent.
From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026
Unlike in most mythological tales, the white Corinthian columns have been swapped out for brutal stone architecture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
While hanging around my grandpa’s store, I had heard some weird tales about animals and people that had gone mad with hydrophobia.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
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.
