tall

comparative taller · superlative tallest

1. Having a top that is far up (contrast: deep ('having a bottom that is far down' ).)
   1. literalHaving great vertical extent (usually reckoned from the bottom of the feet to the very top of the head) when standing. (For instance, somebody with a height of over 6 feet would generally be deemed tall.)

      Ostriches are the tallest living birds.

      3 more examples

      Being tall is an advantage in basketball.

      Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps,[…], and the light of the reflector fell full upon her.

      1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

      He′d been packed in with all the other journos, standing out only in that he was taller than most and didn′t make as much noise.

      2000, Robert Bingham, Lightning on the Sun, page 34

      Antonyms: short

   2. usuallyliteral; such as a building; hill; lamp; such as a building; hill; lampHaving its top a long way up; having a great vertical (and often greater than horizontal) extent.

      Tall trees, at least about 30m high.

      1 more example

      To him it seemed that the Bornean rainforests, the tallest on Earth, were places that had: 'remained untouched and unchanged since remote geological epochs[.]'

      2018, Tim Flannery, Europe: A Natural History, page 55

      Synonyms: high · Antonyms: low, low-rise, short

   3. USliteral; specialized; specializedSmaller than grande, usually 8 ounces (~ 230 ml).
2. Hard to believe, such as a tall story or a tall tale.

   "That's tall talk." "Not an inch taller than the truth."

   1870, The Cornhill Magazine, volume 21, page 9

3. Old senses that arose before the height-related senses
   1. obsoleteObsequious; obedient.
   2. obsoleteSeemly; suitable; fitting, becoming, comely; attractive, handsome.
   3. obsoleteBold; brave; courageous; valiant.
   4. archaicFine; proper; admirable; great; excellent.

plural talls

1. nonstandardpossiblySomeone or something that is tall.

   The industries that best accommodate talls are those that have faced personal injury lawsuits.

   2009, Arianne Cohen, The Tall Book: A Celebration of Life from on High, page 197

   2 more examples

   But in the second generation of hybrids (from seed of the first) talls and dwarfs were both present, and in the proportion of twelve talls to four dwarfs.

   1912, George Francis Atkinson, Botany for High Schools, Henry Holt and Company

   Fremantle remains unsure about the status a pair of key talls ahead of a defining clash with Adelaide at Optus Stadium.

   2018 June 5, Chris Robinson, “Fremantle Dockers defender Alex Pearce faces fitness test on injured ankle”, in The West Australian

2. A clothing size for taller people.

   Do you have this in a tall?

3. A tall serving of a drink, especially one from Starbucks, which contains 12 ounces.