cock-and-bull story
[ kok-uh n-boo l ]
/ ˈkɒk ənˈbʊl /
noun
an absurd, improbable story presented as the truth: Don't ask him about his ancestry unless you want to hear a cock-and-bull story.
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"EVERYDAY" VS. "EVERY DAY" QUIZ: IS IT ONE WORD OR TWO?
An everyday activity is one you do every day. (Thanks, English.) Practice using "everyday," one word, and "every day," two words, in this fun quiz with … everyday example sentences!
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Origin of cock-and-bull story
First recorded in 1600–10; probably with orig. reference to some fable in which a cock and bull figure
Words nearby cock-and-bull story
cock rock, cock's-foot, cock-a-doodle-doo, cock-a-hoop, cock-a-leekie, cock-and-bull story, cock-of-the-rock, cockabully, cockade, cockaigne, cockalorum
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020
Example sentences from the Web for cock-and-bull story
That sounds like a cock-and-bull-story,—said the young fellow whom they call John.
The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table|Oliver Wendell Holmes
British Dictionary definitions for cock-and-bull story
cock-and-bull story
noun
informal an obviously improbable story, esp a boastful one or one used as an excuse
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for cock-and-bull story
cock-and-bull story
A story that is false: “When John came home at 3:30 a.m., he gave his mother some cock-and-bull story about having a flat tire on the way home.”
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.