What does tallboy mean?
A tallboy is, in modern British English, a tall chest of drawers. It is normally a freestanding or narrow storage unit with a vertical arrangement of drawers, traditionally made from timber such as mahogany, oak, or pine. The same kind of furniture is usually called a highboy in American English. Older dictionaries and historical sources also use tallboy for a tall hat with a raised crown and for a large variety of sponge cake, although neither of those senses is common in present-day speech. In contemporary British usage, the word therefore has a relatively focused meaning: a tall chest of drawers. Its regional vocabulary is particularly useful because comparing British and American furniture terminology reveals how the same object can acquire different conventional names across the English-speaking world.
A tall chest of drawers, chiefly in British English.
"A narrow pine tallboy stood between the two windows."
In American English, highboy is the more usual term for this furniture.
Historically, a tall hat with a raised crown.
"The actor appeared on stage wearing a tallboy and a long coat."
This sense is historical and uncommon in modern usage.
Historically, a tall variety of sponge cake.
"Tea was served with slices of a delicate tallboy."
This culinary sense is historical and now rarely encountered.
The usual plural for each historical or modern sense.
"The auction included two tallboys and a collection of wooden chairs."
The name tallboy once described the height of a man, but it later became furniture you could wake up to every morning.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of tallboy
Tallboy is an English compound of tall and boy, developed through descriptive naming before becoming established in furniture terminology. Its history closely parallels that of highboy, with tallboy becoming the more usual British term and highboy becoming dominant in American English. The older senses for a tall hat and a tall cake also reflect the word's broader historical application to things distinguished by their height.
How tallboy is actually used
As a name for a chest of drawers, tallboy is now chiefly British; American speakers more commonly say highboy. Its hat and cake senses are historical and uncommon today.
Easily confused with tallboy
In modern regional usage, tallboy is chiefly British for a chest of drawers, while highboy is chiefly American for the same kind of furniture.