tall order

tall or·der

T t

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [tawl awr-der]
- /tɔl ˈɔr dər/
- /tɔːl ˈɔːdə(r)/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [tawl awr-der]
- /tɔl ˈɔr dər/

Definitions of tall order words

noun tall order an authoritative direction or instruction; command; mandate. 1
noun tall order a command of a court or judge. 1
noun tall order a command or notice issued by a military organization or a military commander to troops, sailors, etc. 1
noun tall order the disposition of things following one after another, as in space or time; succession or sequence: The names were listed in alphabetical order. 1
noun tall order a condition in which each thing is properly disposed with reference to other things and to its purpose; methodical or harmonious arrangement: You must try to give order to your life. 1
noun tall order formal disposition or array: the order of the troops. 1

See all 59 definitions of tall order

Information block about the term

Origin of tall order

First appearance:

before 1175

One of the 8% oldest English words

1175-1225; Middle English ordre (noun), ordren (v., derivative of the noun) < Old French ordre (noun) < Latin ordin- (stem of ordō) row, rank, regular arrangement

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Tall order

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Tall order

tall order popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 100% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

tall order usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for tall order

adj tall order

all-powerful — An all-powerful person or organization has the power to do anything they want.
formidable — causing fear, apprehension, or dread: a formidable opponent.

adjective tall order

ballbuster — Ball-breaker.
murder — Law. the killing of another human being under conditions specifically covered in law. In the U.S., special statutory definitions include murder committed with malice aforethought, characterized by deliberation or premeditation or occurring during the commission of another serious crime, as robbery or arson (first-degree murder) and murder by intent but without deliberation or premeditation (second-degree murder)

noun tall order

handful — the quantity or amount that the hand can hold: a handful of coins.

All 5 Synonyms of tall order