| 释义 |
▪ I. tall, a.|tɔːl|
Also 4–7 tal, 4–6 talle, 6 tawl(l)e.
[Of obscure history. Most prob. repr. (with loss of prefix) OE. ᵹe-tæl (pl. ᵹe-tale) swift, prompt = OHG. gizal, MHG. gezal quick. Cf. Goth. untals unaccommodating, uncompliant, disobedient, ONorthumb. untal evil, improper. For the phonology, cf. small:—OE. smæl.
The sense-development is remarkable, but is paralleled more or less by that of other adjs. expressing estimation, as buxom, canny, clean, clever, cunning, deft, elegant, handsome, pretty, proper; Ger. klein, as compared with Eng. clean, presents the antithesis to mod. tall as compared with tall in early ME.
It has been conjectured that in the sense ‘high of stature’ it is a different word, adopted from Welsh tal in same sense; but the latter is, according to Prof. Rhŷs, merely a 16th c. borrowing of the Eng. word (in Owen Pughe's Dictionary erroneously mixed up with the genuine Welsh n. tal end, brow, forehead, with which it has no possible connexion). The 15th c. instance of the adj. cited by Pughe is prob. from sense 2 or 3 below.]
A. adj.
I.
†1. Quick, prompt, ready, active. Obs. rare.
But the sense in both quots. is doubtful; in quot. c 1374, tall has been taken by some as = ‘meek, docile’; quot. 1542 may belong to sense 2.
[c1000Ags. Ps. lvi. 5 (Th.) Wæron hyra tungan ᵹetale teonan ᵹehwylcre.] c1374Chaucer Compl. Mars 38 (Harl. MS. 7333) Sche [Venus] made him [Mars] at hir lust [v.r. list] so humble & talle [v.rr. tal, tall; Fairf. MS. humble and calle; Tan. MS. humble in alle]. 1530–1600 [see 4]. 1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. 51 For lesse money..myght I bye a bondeman, that should dooe me tall & hable seruice.
†2.
a. Meet, becoming, seemly, proper, decent. Obs.
[Cf.c1350–c 1440 s.v. tally adv.] c1400Destr. Troy 3098 Ho tentit not in tempull to no tall prayers, Ne no melody of mouthe made at þe tyme. c1440Promp. Parv. 486/1, Tal, or semely, decens, elegans.
†b. Comely, goodly, fair, handsome; elegant, fine. Cf. proper a. 8. Obs.
c1450Cov. Myst. xxiii. (1841) 215 A fayre ȝonge qwene..Bothe ffresche and gay upon to loke, And a talle man with her dothe melle. 1451Paston Lett. I. 224 On of the tallest younge men of this parysch lyth syke. 1530Palsgr. 327/1 Talle..bel, as bel home. c1592Marlowe Jew of Malta iv. iv, That such a base slave as he should be saluted by such a tall man as I am, from such a beautiful dame as you. 1656H. More Enthus. Tri. 31 He was a tal proper man..but of a very pale wasted melancholy countenance.
†3. Good at arms; stout or strong in combat; doughty, brave, bold, valiant. Cf. pretty 3 a.
c1400Destr. Troy 8574 Mageron..macchet with Achilles, Wold haue takon the talle kyng, & to toun led. a1518Skelton Magnyf. 821 Cou. Ab. I waraunt you I wyll not go away. Cra. Con. By Saynt Mary, he is a tawle man. Clo. Col. Ye, and do ryght good seruyce he can. a1529― Agst. Garnesche i. 5 Syr Frollo de Franko was neuer halfe so talle. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI 159 This capitayn [Jack Cade]..assembled together a great company of talle personages. a1553Udall Royster D. iv. viii, Now sirs, quite our selues like tall men and hardie. 1577J. Northbrooke Agst. Dicing (1843) 8 If he can kil a man,..he is called a tall man, and a valiant man of his hands. 1591Greene Art Conny Catch. iii. (1592) 16 He that had done this tall exploit, in a place so open. 1598J. Dickenson Greene in Conc. (1878) 137 With her tongue she was as tall a warriouresse as any of hir sexe. a1604Hanmer Chron. Irel. (1633) 126 Both sides lost many a tall man. a1613Overbury Ess. Valour in Wife, etc. (1630) Q vj b, It makes a little fellow to be called a Tall man. 1641Prynne Antip. 16 He like a tall fellow, thereupon interdicted the King, with the whole Realme. 1670Milton Hist. Eng. ii. Wks. (1847) 492/2 Telling the tall champions as a great encouragement, that with the Britons it was usual for women to be their leaders. 1820W. Irving Sketch-Bk., John Bull (1865) 390 The old fellow's spirit is as tall and as gallant as ever. 1825Scott Betrothed i, Beloved among the ‘tall men’, or champions, of Wales.
†4. Phrase tall of (his) hand(s: sometimes, (cf. sense 1) Ready, active, deft, skilful with (his) hands; dexterous, handy; sometimes, (cf. sense 3) Stout of arm, formidable with weapons. So tall of tongue, stout of speech or argument. Obs.
1530Palsgr. 784/1 He is a tall man of his handes,..cest ung habille homme de ses mains. 1589R. Harvey Pl. Perc. (1590) A iij, They were neuer tall fellows of their hands that were such hacksters in the street. 1598Florio, Manesco, readie, nimble, or quicke-handed..a tall man of his hands. 1600Holland Livy ii. xxxiii. 65 A Noble yoong gentleman, right politicke of advise, active besides, and tall of his hands [L. promptus manu]. Ibid. iii. lxx. 136 Agrippa being a tall man of his handes [L. viribus ferox] and young withall,..caught the ensignes from the ensigne-bearers, advanced them forward his owne selfe. Ibid. xxi. xl. 415 Stout in heart, and tall of hand [L. vigens corpore]. 1607Marston What you will Induct., Goe stand to it; shew thyselfe a tall man of thy tongue. 1632Holland Cyrupædia 46 Swift I am not of foot, nor yet a tall man of my hands.
†5. Big, large, bulky. Obs. rare.
c1430Lydg. Min. Poems 200 This fair floure of woman⁓heed Hath too pappys also smalle, Bolsteryd out of lenghth and breed, Lyche a large campyng balle; There is no bagpipe halff so talle,..Whan they been full of wynde at alle.
II.
6. a. Of a person: High of stature; of more than average height. Usually appreciative. Also of animals, as a giraffe, stag, or the like. (Cf. elegant a. 2 b = tall of stature.)
1530Palsgr. 327/1 Talle or hye..hault. 1538Elyot, Procerus, longe, talle. 1552Huloet, Talle or verye hyghe in personage aboue other. 1599Hakluyt Voy. II. 256 The men are tall and slender. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. vii. 54 Fair Galatea,..Tall as a Poplar, taper as the Bole. 1719Young Paraphr. Job Wks. 1757 I. 215 Will the tall Reem..Low at the crib, and ask an alms of thee? 1796H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) I. 398 Tall as giants, hairy like bears. 1858Carlyle Fredk. Gt. v. v. I. 579 One Hohmann, a born Prussian, was so tall, you could not..touch his bare crown with your hand. 1861Hulme tr. Moquin-Tandon i. ii. 14 A man..is called tall when he is above 5.754 feet in height. 1886Ruskin Præterita I. vii. 210 A tall, handsome, and very finely made girl.
(b) In proverbial phr. tall, dark, and handsome, denoting a type of attractive man (see also quot. 1965).
1906R. E. Knowles Undertow xi. 135 He was tall—and dark—and handsome. 1940Chatelaine Dec. 55/3 One Squadron Leader tells of filling an ‘order’ for ‘three tall, dark and handsomes to go dancing’. 1958M. Stewart Nine Coaches Waiting vii. 93 Tall, dark and handsome—the romantic cliché repeated itself in my head. 1965T. Wolfe Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby (1966) ix. 178 It was Cary Grant that Mae West was talking about when she launched the phrase ‘tall, dark and handsome’ in ‘She Done Him Wrong’ (1933). 1978‘H. Carmichael’ Life Cycle v. 64 If she felt like leaning on his shoulder it was certainly not because he was tall, dark and handsome.
b. Having a specified or relative height; measuring in stature (so much): without implication of great height. (Cf. big, broad, high, etc.)
1588Shakes. L.L.L. iv. i. 47 Costard. Which is the greatest Lady, the highest? Princess. The thickest, and the tallest. 1685Baxter Paraphr. N.T. Matt. vi. 27 All your care cannot make you any taller of stature. 1732Macky Mem., Charac. (ed. 2) 47 [Marquis of Hartington was] taller than a middle Stature. 1744S. Fielding David Simple ii. iii, If a Man could make himself happy by imagining himself six Foot tall, tho' he was but three. 1845James Arrah Neil ii, A good deal taller than his companion. 1853Visct. S. de Redcliffe in Lane-Poole Life II. 242 He is..6 ft. 3 in. tall. Mod. How tall are you? He is a little taller than his brother, but both are dwarfs.
c. absol. as n. nonce-use.
1903M. Pemberton Dr. Xavier i, They want ‘talls’ for the first row and she's just the height.
7. a. Of things, as ships (spec. square-riggers), trees, mountains: High, lofty; esp. of things high in proportion to their width, as a tall chimney, tall column, tall house, tall mast, tall spire.
a1548Hall Chron., Hen. IV 32 b, Talle shippes furnished with vitayles municions and all thynges necessary. 1562Turner Herbal ii. 6 There are two kyndes of ashes [trees], of y⊇ whiche the one is verye high and tawlle. 1582M. Phillips in Hakl. Voy. (1589) 579 Two good tall ships of warre. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 220 To be imbargued in two tall Ships, and a great Gallion. 1655Stanley Hist. Philos. iii. (1701) 106/1 Above the tallest Hill or Wood. 1702Rowe Tamerl. i. i, Yon tall Mountains That seem to reach the Clouds. 1715Pope tr. Homer's Iliad I. iii. 192 When thy tall Ships triumphant stem'd the tide. Ibid. xiii. 493 The mountain-oak, or poplar tall, Or pine, fit mast for some great admiral. 1726― tr. Homer's Odyssey I. iv. 201 From his tall ship the King of men descends. 1784Cowper Task i. 450 Upon the ship's tall side he stands, possess'd With visions prompted by intense desire. 1852James Agnes Sorel i, A tall house in the city of Paris. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. I. xviii. 222 Its tallest summit near the water at thirteen hundred [feet]. a1865Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. (1867) 674 Tall ship, a phrase among the early voyagers for square-rigged vessels having topmasts. 1902J. Masefield Salt-water Ballads 59 All I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by. 1908Miss Fowler Betw. Trent & Ancholme 18 Where..the Fuchsias grow tall, up to the eaves. 1916Joyce Portrait of Artist (1969) v. 252 The spell of arms and voices; the white arms of roads..and the black arms of tall ships that stand against the moon. 1975Times 4 July 4/8 The Admiralty Court yesterday granted..an order that the tall ship, Regina Maris, be appraised and sold by the Admiralty marshal to pay a debt... The 137ft-long ship..competed in last year's Tall Ships Race.
b. Of more than average length measured from bottom to top, as a tall copy of a book, a tall folio. tall hat, a silk hat with high cylindrical crown.
1608Topsell Serpents (1658) 747 Very like a small and vulgar Lizard, except..their legs taller, and their tail longer. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, i. iii. 30 The faith they haue in Tennis and tall Stockings, Short blistred Breeches, and those types of Trauell. a1704T. Brown Lett. fr. Dead ii. i. Wks. 1720 II. 160, I..was to write Bills as tall as the Monument. 17..John o' Hazelgreen v. in Child Ballads V. 163 Wi arms tall, and fingers small—He's comely to be seen. 1807Southey Lett. from Eng. I. xxi. 237 The size of the margin is of great importance. I could not conceive what was meant by a tall copy, till this was explained to me. If the leaves of an old book have never been cut smooth, its value is greatly enhanced. 1819Scott Let. to Miss Edgeworth 21 July in Lockhart, A second edition of Walter Scott, a tall copy, as collectors say, and bound in Turkey leather. 1847L. Hunt Men, Women & B. II. vi. 78 The charms of vellums, tall copies, and blind tooling. 1890‘Ouida’ Syrlin xiv, They would go to Eton and wear ridiculous jackets and tall hats.
c. Applied distinctively to species or varieties of plants which grow higher than other species. Cf. tall-grass adj., sense C below.
1789Ann. Agric. XII. 441, I was surprized to see no tall oat grass there, the best and most useful of the grasses which meadows can be laid down with. 1835Hooker Brit. Flora (ed. 3) 50 Festuca elatior, Tall Fescue grass. 1846J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 371 Tall oat-like soft grass, Holcus avenaceus. 1850Kingsley Alt. Locke xiv, The tender green of the tall rape, a plant till then unknown to me. 1861Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. IV. 79 Tall Broom-rape..growing on the roots of the Great Knapweed. 1897–8Britton & Brown Amer. Flora, Tall moss, Sedum acre. 1979United States 1980/81 (Penguin Travel Guides) 763 Now scarcely 1% of the original 400,000 square miles of tallgrass remain.
d. absol. as n.
190919th Cent. Jan. 76 Two thirds gave plants divided into ‘talls’ and dwarfs.
e. tall timber (N. Amer.), uninhabited forest. Usu. in phr. to break (strike, etc.) for (the) tall timber; also transf., to run away, escape. Hence tall-timbered adj.
[1831Boston Transcript 24 June 2/4 Why didn't Van just go and tell the old man he wanted to break for high timber?] 1845St. Louis Reveille 22 Jan. 1/6 Knowing the direction of the trees that stood in the grove, I ‘broke for the tall timber’. 1877J. M. Beard K.K.K. Sketches 166 The panic-stricken darkies broke across the landscape with a yearning desire for tall timber that was eloquently depicted on every motion of the supple limbs. 1904[see scratch v. 5 c]. 1914D. W. Roberts Rangers & Sovereignty 128 The ‘bad men’..began to strike for ‘tall timber’. 1921Daily Colonist (Victoria) 22 Mar. 13/1 The northern correspondent of The Colonist has just emerged from the tall timber, where he has been living under canvas for the past two years. 1949Skyline Trail Oct. 18/1, I fell off three times; finally the disgusted critter took to the tall timber, leaving me to hike onward and to get across the frigid stream as best I could. 1966Times 28 Feb. (Canada Suppl.) p. ii, Canada is a tall-timbered..rod-and-gun of a country.
f. Of game birds: high-flying. Occas. applied transf. to a shot at such a bird.
1913Sir R. Payne-Gallwey High Pheasants iv. 37 The tallest pheasants I know of are at Harpton. Ibid. v. 45 These high birds..afford most sporting and tall shots. 1922H. S. Gladstone Record Bags & Shooting Rec. 197 Correct judgment of distance is essential for accurate shooting..hence the tall stories of tall birds. 1952J. W. Day New Yeomen of England xi. 125 It was all done in the sacred service of King Pheasant, by men who laid out their woods in order to show tall birds. 1962Times 28 Apr. 11/4 But equally tall pheasants can and do come over at shoots on ground as flat as a billiard table. 1976Shooting Times & Country Mag. 18–24 Nov. 28/2 Half a dozen superb tall birds came over the gate.
8. fig.
†a. Lofty, grand, eminent. Obs.
1655Stanley Hist. Philos. i. (1701) 45/1 Who in tall Corinth and Pirene dwell. 1686W. de Britaine Hum. Prudence xix. 88 Princes may bestow the tallest Preferments, but they cannot make Men truly Honourable. 1701Watts Horæ Lyr. iii. Death T. Gunston 187 The tall titles, insolent and proud. 1827Lamb Let. to B. Barton in Final Mem. viii. 260 Thine briefly in a tall friendship, C. Lamb.
b. Grandiloquent, magniloquent; high-flown; esp. in tall talk (talk n. 5). colloq.
1670Eachard Cont. Clergy 39 Others..whose parts stand not so much towards tall words and lofty notions, but consist in..besprinkling all their sermons with plenty of Greek and Latin. 1864Spectator No. 1884. 911 The somewhat tall title of ‘Analysis and Synthesis in Painting’. 1869Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 518 What the Yankees call ‘tall talk’. 1876C. M. Davies Unorth. Lond. 55 Then succeeded the minister herself, whose prayer was ‘taller’ than the young girl's. 1890Spectator 3 May 628/1 The diction is as impetuous as Niagara, as ‘tall’ as the Eiffel Tower.
c. Exaggerated, highly coloured. U.S. colloq.
1846T. B. Thorpe Backwoods, Big Bear Arkansaw (Bartlett), The live Sucker from Illinois had the daring to say that our Arkansaw friend's stories smelt rather tall. 1870Zoologist V. 2350 The producers of what is called ‘tall writing’. 1891N. York Times 26 Jan. (Cent. Dict.), A tall yarn about the Jews wanting to buy the Vatican copy of the Hebrew Bible. 1897Dublin Rev. Oct. 267 ‘Tall stories’ are the perquisite of every traveller. 1902E. Banks Newspaper Girl 279 Nor do I think that there is anything ‘tall’ in this statement.
d. Large in amount, big. slang (orig. U.S.). tall order, something expected to be hard to achieve or fulfil: cf. big (large, strong) order s.v. order n. 24 c.
1842Dickens Amer. Notes (1850) 131/2 We were a pretty tall time coming that last fifteen mile. 1864F. Lillywhite Guide to Cricketers 95 The..match..between Surrey and Thirteen of Cambridge University,..owing to the ‘very tall’ scoring, was also unfinished. 1884I. Bligh in Lillywhite's Cricket Ann. 4, G. B. Studd's 19 including some tall hits. 1891W. G. Grace Cricket iv. 19 The season, so far, had been dry, and favourable for tall scoring. 1893F. Adams New Egypt 128 It's a tall order, but it's worth trying, isn't it? 1902Westm. Gaz. 13 Feb. 12/2 America is the land of ‘tall’ things, and this is certainly a ‘tall’ drink for twenty-five persons. 1905Sat. Rev. 24 June 825 Usurping the functions of the King is rather a ‘tall order’ for a private M.P. 1920C. A. W. Monckton Some Experiences New Guinea Resident Magistrate xviii. 201, I..told the police we would make the attempt; clearly they thought we were taking on a devil of a tall order. 1946Civil & Milit. Gaz. 26 May 15 (heading) Tall scoring by Indians at Lords. 1950H. Read Educ. for Peace iv. 51 It is, to use our slang expression, ‘a tall order’, but it has been attempted before. 1976Norwich Mercury 19 Nov. 2/1 ‘You do not by any chance know of anybody with an old lion's skin?’ she asked. A tall order indeed.
†9. fig.
a. Great, eminent (at something). Obs.
1591Lodge Diogenes in his Singularitie (Hunter. Cl.) 29 Verie earnest to prooue himselfe a tall a b c Clearke, he read on [etc.]. 1646G. Daniel Poems Wks. (Grosart) I. 83 A hundred Rhiming Fellowes, that have bin Tall Men at Meeter. 1662Cokaine Trag. Ovid iv. vi, Though she's but little, she's a tall woman at a Trencher.
b. Great in quality, excellent, good, first-class. (U.S. slang.)
1835–40Haliburton Clockm. (1862) 530 Won't it be tall feedin' at Queen's table, that's all. 1847Robb Squatter Life (Bartlett), I didn't estimate him very tall. 1852Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxxvii, They..make jist the tallest kind o' broth and knicknacks.
B. quasi-adv. In a tall manner; elatedly, proudly; to walk tall, to carry one's head high; to have dignity or self-respect; to sit tall, to sit erect, with a straight back (in quot. fig.). Also Comb., as tall-talking.
1846T. B. Thorpe Myst. Backwoods 131 (Bartl.), I will walk tall into varmint and Indian. 1860Thackeray Round. Papers, De finibus (1862) 282 The sin of grandiloquence, or tall-talking. 1869Mrs. Stowe Oldtown Folks vi. (1870) 65 I'm 'mazing proud on 't. I tell you I walk tall. 1970Guardian 3 June 20/6 Officials gave the doctors folders entitled, ‘Walk Tall in Australia’. Ibid. 6 Aug. 9/1 Walk tall, sisters... One woman's distinction adds a tiny bit to the stature of every other woman. 1976Billings (Montana) Gaz. 6 July 3d/6 ‘We need to sit tall in the saddle and ride like hell in the right direction,’ the governor added. 1980Times 15 Feb. 16/8 ‘Walk tall,’ say the television commercials [in Hongkong], ‘report corruption.’
C. Comb.: parasynthetic, as tall-bodied (having a tall body), tall-elmed, tall-hatted, tall-masted, tall-necked, tall-sceptred, tall-stemmed, tall-tussocked, tall-wheeled, etc.; quasi-advb., as tall-growing, tall-sitting; tall-grass a., (esp. of a prairie) characterized by tall grasses (tall a. 7 c); tall poppy: see poppy n. 1 b; † tall-sail (tal-sail) = topsail.
14..Siege Jerus. 289 Þey tyȝten vp tal-sail [v.r. topsaill], whan þe tide asked, Hadde byr at þe bake, & þe bonke lefte. c1725Armstrong Imit. Shaks. 6 Misc. 1770 I. 147 A blast so shrewd makes the tall-bodied pines Unsinew'd bend. 1825J. G. Whittier Poet. Wks. (1898) 522/2 With tall-masted ships on their broad bosoms riding. 1855Bailey Spiritual Leg. in Mystic, etc. 105 Tall-sceptred law, and loin-girt liberty. 1877Furnivall Leopold Shaks. Introd. 117 You ride through Charlecote's tall-elmd park. 1885Kipling Departm. Ditties (1886) 33, I drive no tall-wheeled traps. 1886P. Robinson Valley Teet. Trees 63 The tall-tussocked grass of the waste lands. 1897Westm. Gaz. 6 July 2/1 A very tall-sitting lady, with a tremendous matinée hat, sat down in front of me. 1908Miss Fowler Betw. Trent & Ancholme 203 Sun-flowers, and other succulent tall-growing things. 1920Carnegie Inst. Washington Publ. No. 290. 256 The tall-grass prairies are typical of regions in which humid farming prevails. 1922Joyce Ulysses 250 H. halted and four tallhatted white flagons halted behind him. 1925J. Ferguson in Oxf. Poetry 18 The tall-stemmed candles brighten. 1951Dict. Gardening (R. Hort. Soc.) II. 921/1 In the tall-stemmed section, such as G[rammatophyllum] speciosum, there are probably six species. 1972T. McHugh Time of Buffalo ii. 16 On the lush eastern half of the tall-grass prairie, one buffalo could have lived for a year on about ten acres. 1972D. Lees Zodiac 27 A tall-hatted chef [was] serving a cold lunch. 1980Outdoor Life (U.S.) (Northeast ed.) Oct. 97/1 Oak thickets, tall-grass ridges,..and aspen groves.
▸ tall poppy n.see note at poppy n. 5 chiefly Austral. a prominent or conspicuously successful person or thing, freq. with implication of attracting hostility from envious detractors.
In quot. 1858 as part of an extended metaphor.
1858Times 14 Sept. 10/2 It was not the intent of their Legislature merely to cut down every *tall poppy, but to reduce every flower in the garden to the same proportions. 1902H. L. Nielsen Voice of People 8 The ‘tall poppies’ were the ones it was desired to retrench, but fear was expressed that as usual, retrenchment might begin at the bottom of the ladder, and hardly touch those at the top at all. 1975Sydney Morning Herald 8 Apr. 6 Labor is obsessed with the ‘tall poppies’, and seems determined to pull them down. 2003S. Brown Free Gift Inside! 60 In an era not exactly renowned for its shrinking violets, Elbert Hubbard was a tall poppy.
▸ tall poppy syndrome n. orig. and chiefly Austral. a perceived tendency to disparage prominent or successful people.
1983Austral. Financial Rev. 18 Jan. 11/4 Is this not another example of the great Australian ‘*tall poppy syndrome’ at work?.. To suggest that that these elite be punished fiscally for their endeavours is an especially negative approach. 1990Vanity Fair June 170/1 The Tall Poppy Syndrome is as familiar to Australians as the kangaroo. 2003A. Craig Love in Idleness (2004) ix. 212 You know, it's the worst thing about living in Britain, the tall poppy syndrome they call it. First you get built up, then, when they think you're going to get too big for your boots, they come along and chop you down.
▪ II. tall
obs. variant of tail n.2, v.2 |