cock-and-bull story

[ kok-uhn-bool ]

/ ˈkɒk ənˈbʊl /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for cock-and-bull story on Thesaurus.com

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.

QUIZ

GOOSES. GEESES. I WANT THIS QUIZ ON PLURAL NOUNS!

Test how much you really know about regular and irregular plural nouns with this quiz.

Question 1 of 9

Which of the following nouns has an irregular plural form?

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of cock-and-bull story

First recorded in 1600–10; probably with original reference to some fable in which a cock and bull figure

Words nearby cock-and-bull story

cock-a-hoop, Cockaigne, cock-a-leekie, cockalorum, cockamamie, cock-and-bull story, cockapoo, cock a snook, cockatiel, cockatoo, cockatrice

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use cock-and-bull story in a sentence

As an example of good science-and-society policymaking, the history of fluoride may be more of a cautionary tale.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
The story of fluoridation reads like a postmodern fable, and the moral is clear: a scientific discovery might seem like a boon.
Anti-Fluoriders Are The OG Anti-Vaxxers|Michael Schulson|July 27, 2016|DAILY BEAST
But along with the cartoon funk is an all-too-real story of police brutality embodied by a horde of evil Pigs.
‘Black Dynamite’ Presents Police Brutality: The Musical|Stereo Williams|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
As this list shows, punishments typically run to a short-ish jail sentence and/or a moderately hefty fine.
In Defense of Blasphemy|Michael Tomasky|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Whatever the FBI says, the truthers will create alternative hypotheses that try to challenge the ‘official story.’
Was Sony Hit With a Second Hack?|Shane Harris|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The well-known "cock and bull" stories of small children are inspired by this love of strong effect.
Children's Ways|James Sully
Nothing but an extreme love of truth could have hindered me from concealing this part of my story.
Gulliver's Travels|Jonathan Swift
She also practises etching, pen-and-ink drawing, as well as crayon and water-color sketching.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
A few moments afterward he was seen dragging his own trunk ashore, while Mr. Hitchcock finished his story on the boiler deck.
The Book of Anecdotes and Budget of Fun;|Various
No law of that country must exceed in words the number of letters in their alphabet, which consists only in two-and-twenty.
Gulliver's Travels|Jonathan Swift

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.”

Other Idioms and Phrases with cock-and-bull story

cock and bull story

An unbelievable tale that is intended to deceive; a tall tale. For example, Jack told us some cock and bull story about getting lost. This expression may come from a folk tale involving these two animals, or from the name of an English inn where travelers told such tales. W.S. Gilbert used it in The Yeomen of the Guard (1888), where Jack Point and Wilfred the Jailer make up a story about the hero's fictitious death: “Tell a tale of cock and bull, Of convincing detail full.” [c. 1600]

cock-and-bull story

Origin of cock-and-bull story

Words nearby cock-and-bull story

Words related to cock-and-bull story

How to use cock-and-bull story in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for cock-and-bull story

Cultural definitions for cock-and-bull story

Other Idioms and Phrases with cock-and-bull story