Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

furphy

American  
[fur-fee] / ˈfɜr fi /

noun

Australian.

plural

furphies

  1. a false report or improbable story; rumor.

Furphy 1 British  
/ ˈfɜːfɪ /

noun

  1. Joseph , pen name Tom Collins . 1843–1912, Australian author. His works include the classic Australian novel Such is Life (1903) and The Buln-Buln and the Brolga (1948)

"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
furphy 2 British  
/ ˈfɜːfɪ /

noun

  1. slang a rumour or fictitious story

"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

Etymology

Origin of furphy

First recorded in 1910–15; after Furphy carts, water and rubbish carts manufactured by the Furphy family of Shepparton, Victoria, and used during World War I; compare parallel semantic development of scuttlebutt

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"This argument that homeschooled children suffer socially is the biggest furphy," says the H.E.A.'s Strange.

From Time Magazine Archive

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.