tale
a narrative that relates the details of some real or imaginary event, incident, or case; story: a tale about Lincoln's dog.
a literary composition having the form of such a narrative.
a falsehood; lie.
a rumor or piece of gossip, often malicious or untrue.
the full number or amount.
Archaic. enumeration; count.
Obsolete. talk; discourse.
Origin of tale
1Words that may be confused with tale
- tail, tale
Words Nearby tale
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use tale in a sentence
If tales are true, he’s one of the biggest bullies Washington has ever seen.
Why Larry Summers Still Triggers Washington. (It Isn’t His Economics.) | Philip Elliott | February 8, 2021 | TimeOZY and History’s newest podcast, The Food That Built America, tells the tale.
Through interviews with both of them and members of their families, Glaser is able to meticulously re-create their tale.
For a mother forced to give up her child, decades of grief, shame and secrets | Ellen McCarthy | February 5, 2021 | Washington PostThe tragedy, of course, is that Spears still can’t tell that tale herself.
Britney Spears and the trauma of being young, female and famous in the ’90s | Ashley Fetters | February 5, 2021 | Washington PostIn this 2018 book, Miller lets Circe take center stage, imagining what filled all the space between her appearances in ancient tales.
As an example of good science-and-society policymaking, the history of fluoride may be more of a cautionary tale.
Not that the demonstration had anything to do with this couple, whom Sarah seems to see as a fairy tale come to life.
Were the fairy-tale true it really would shame the affluent west.
Whilst Whitacre never defined himself as an “ally,” this remains a cautionary tale of what not to do.
Tech’s Male ‘Feminists’ Aren’t Helping | Cate Huston, Karen Catlin | December 8, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTUrban America is often portrayed as a tale of two kinds of places, those that “have it” and those who do not.
The Rustbelt Roars Back From the Dead | Joel Kotkin, Richey Piiparinen | December 7, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut he was ignorant of that part of the horrid tale; and the Duke, in a milder voice, bade him rise.
The Pastor's Fire-side Vol. 3 of 4 | Jane PorterNever had Punch secured the telling of that tale with so little opposition.
Kipling Stories and Poems Every Child Should Know, Book II | Rudyard KiplingThe tailor of the fairy tale with his "seven at a blow" is not in it with the gunnery Lieutenant of a battleship.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I | Ian HamiltonUntil very recently little has been known of the strange land in which the subject of this tale lives.
Our Little Korean Cousin | H. Lee M. PikeThat was how I learnt the strangest tale that ever a man was told, and knew the miracle to which I owed my life.
Uncanny Tales | Various
British Dictionary definitions for tale
/ (teɪl) /
a report, narrative, or story
one of a group of short stories connected by an overall narrative framework
a malicious or meddlesome rumour or piece of gossip: to bear tales against someone
(in combination): talebearer; taleteller
a fictitious or false statement
tell tales
to tell fanciful lies
to report malicious stories, trivial complaints, etc, esp to someone in authority
tell a tale to reveal something important
tell its own tale to be self-evident
archaic
a number; amount
computation or enumeration
an obsolete word for talk
Origin of tale
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with tale
see old wives' tale; tall tale; tell tales; thereby hangs a tale.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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