Jump To:

• furphy
  furphy

  noun

  a false report or improbable story; rumor.
• Furphy
  Furphy

  noun

  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)

furphy

American  

[fur-fee] / ˈfɜr fi /

noun

Australian.

furphies plural

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)

---

furphy ² British  

/ ˈfɜːfɪ /

noun

1. slang a rumour or fictitious story

---

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• furphies
  plural

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

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

From Time Magazine Archive