- 1 (of a person, building, tree, etc.) having a greater than average height She's tall and thin. tall chimneys the tallest building in the world a tall glass of iced tea opposite short Oxford Collocations Dictionary verbsbe, look, seem, … adverbextremely, fairly, very, … See full entry See related entries: Body shape
- 2 used to describe or ask about the height of somebody/something How tall are you? He's six feet tall and weighs 200 pounds. Which Word?high / tall High is used to talk about the measurement from the bottom to the top of something:The fence is over five metres high. He has climbed some of the world’s highest mountains. You also use high to describe the distance of something from the ground:How high was the plane when the engine failed? Tall is used instead of high to talk about people:My brother’s much taller than me.Tall is also used for things that are high and narrow such as trees:She ordered cold beer in a tall glass. tall factory chimneys. Buildings can be high or tall. Word Originlate Middle English: probably from Old English getæl ‘swift, prompt’. Early senses also included ‘fine, handsome’ and ‘bold, strong, good at fighting’.Extra examples She is quite tall for her age. Suddenly he seemed to stand taller. (a) tall building/tower/tree/grass Pollutants are dispersed through tall chimneys. She’s tall and thin with light brown hair. What’s the tallest building in the world?Idioms
(informal) to be very difficult to do
(saying) something large and successful often begins in a very small way
(especially North American English) to show that you are proud and able to deal with anything See related entries: Proud
to feel proud and confident See related entries: Happiness, Confident
Check pronunciation: tall
