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Question

Chatting about surfing.  Can you say:Depends on how tall the waves are.  OrDepends on how high the waves are.  ORThose are some really high waves.  OrThose are some really tall waves.Thank yoU!

Sadiaa28 · Accepted Answer

hi there. you need to use giant or big.
my advise : use oxford collocation dictionary . It's awesome .

Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English, 2nd edition

wave noun
1 on water

adjective

big , enormous , giant , great , huge , mountainous

small , tiny

10 - foot , 40 - foot , etc.

gentle
the gentle ~s of the bay

white - capped

incoming , oncoming
He swam headlong into the oncoming ~.

breaking

crashing

rolling

lapping

ocean
the roar of ocean ~s

tidal , tsunami
Several villages have been destroyed by a huge tidal ~.

rogue
These boats aren't strong enough to withstand rogue ~s.

verb + wave

ride
Surfers flocked to the beach to ride the ~s.

surf
She loved surfing the giant ~s of the sea.

catch ( often figurative )
How do we catch the next great ~ of innovation?

wave + verb

rise

break , fall , roll , roll in
We watched the ~s breaking on the shore.

hit sth , pound sth , strike sth
The ~s hit the rocks with huge energy.

lap
the gentle sound of ~s lapping the sand

splash
A huge ~ splashed over him.

crash , roar , smash
I could hear the ~s crash against the rocks.

wave + noun

energy , power

preposition

in the ~s
children playing in the ~s

on the ~s
There were seagulls bobbing on the ~s.

phrases

the crash of the ~s , the crashing of the ~s , the lap of the ~s , the lapping of the ~s
All you could hear was the lapping of the ~s.

the crest of a ~ ( often figurative )
She is on the crest of a ~ at the moment following her Olympic success.

2 movement of energy

adjective

acoustic , electromagnetic , gravitational , gravity , light , radio , seismic , shock , sound , ultrasonic

verb + wave

emit , generate

deflect

detect

wave + verb

travel

bounce off sth , travel
Sound ~s bounce off objects in their path.

3 increase/spread

adjective

big , enormous , great , huge , massive

fresh , new , next , recent

current
the current ~ of business scandals

successive
successive ~s of immigrants

first , second , etc.
the first ~ of immigration in the 1950s

crime

verb + wave

send
The news sent a ~ of relief through the crowd.

cause , create , generate , produce , prompt , spark , trigger
This tendency has generated a new ~ of company mergers.

launch , unleash
The attack unleashed a ~ of terror in the city.

feel
I feel a ~ of panic flow through me.

wave + verb

sweep sth , sweep over sth , wash over sb/sth , wash through sb/sth
With the fall of the Bastille in 1789, a ~ of euphoria swept Europe.

A ~ of relief washed over him as he saw that the children were safe.

preposition

~ of
a big ~ of refugees

on a ~
swept along on a ~ of critical acclaim

4 hand movement

adjective

quick

little , slight ( esp. AmE )

cheery , friendly

farewell , goodbye ( esp. AmE ) , parting

casual

dismissive
She gave a dismissive ~ of her hand.

half-hearted

verb + wave

give (sb) , return
I returned his ~ and started to walk up to him.

preposition

with a ~

~ of
He dismissed her thanks with a quick ~ of the hand.

© Oxford University Press, 2009

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