tall Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a garment size for a tall person
  2. adjective great in vertical dimension; high in stature
    • tall people
    • tall buildings
    • tall trees
    • tall ships
  3. adjective satellite lofty in style
    grandiloquent; magniloquent.
    • he engages in so much tall talk, one never really realizes what he is saying
  4. adjective satellite impressively difficult
    • a tall order
  5. adjective satellite too improbable to admit of belief
    marvellous; improbable; marvelous.
    • a tall story

WordNet

Tall adjective
Etymology
OE. tal seemly, elegant, docile (?); of uncertain origin; cf. AS. un-tala, un-tale, bad, Goth. untals indocile, disobedient, uninstructed, or W. & Corn. tal high, Ir. talla meet, fit, proper, just.
Wordforms
comparative Taller ; superlative Tallest
Definitions
  1. High in stature; having a considerable, or an unusual, extension upward; long and comparatively slender; having the diameter or lateral extent small in proportion to the height; as, a tall person, tree, or mast.
    Two of far nobler shape, erect and tall. Milton.
  2. Brave; bold; courageous. Obs.
    As tall a trencherman As e'er demolished a pye fortification. Massinger.
    His companions, being almost in despair of victory, were suddenly recomforted by Sir William Stanley, which came to succors with three thousand tall men. Grafton.
  3. Fine; splendid; excellent; also, extravagant; excessive. Obs. or Slang B. Jonson. Syn. -- High; lofty. -- Tall, High, Lofty. High is the generic term, and is applied to anything which is elevated or raised above another thing. Tall specifically describes that which has a small diameter in proportion to its height; hence, we speak of a tall man, a tall steeple, a tall mast, etc., but not of a tall hill. Lofty has a special reference to the expanse above us, and denotes an imposing height; as, a lofty mountain; a lofty room. Tall is now properly applied only to physical objects; high and lofty have a moral acceptation; as, high thought, purpose, etc.; lofty aspirations; a lofty genius. Lofty is the stronger word, and is usually coupled with the grand or admirable.

Webster 1913