tale

American  

[teyl] / teɪl /

noun

1. a narrative that relates the details of some real or imaginary event, incident, or case; story.

   a tale about Lincoln's dog.

2. a literary composition having the form of such a narrative.

3. a falsehood; lie.

4. a rumor or piece of gossip, often malicious or untrue.

5. the full number or amount.

6. Archaic. enumeration; count.

7. Obsolete. talk; discourse.

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tale British  

/ teɪl /

noun

1. a report, narrative, or story

2. one of a group of short stories connected by an overall narrative framework

3. 1. a malicious or meddlesome rumour or piece of gossip

      to bear tales against someone

   2. ( in combination )

      talebearer

      taleteller

4. a fictitious or false statement

5. 1. to tell fanciful lies

   2. to report malicious stories, trivial complaints, etc, esp to someone in authority

6. to reveal something important

7. to be self-evident

8. archaic

   1. a number; amount

   2. computation or enumeration

9. an obsolete word for talk

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tale Idioms  

1. see old wives' tale; tall tale; tell tales; thereby hangs a tale.

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Etymology

Origin of tale

before 900; Middle English; Old English talu series, list, narrative, story; cognate with Dutch taal speech, language, German Zahl number, Old Norse tala number, speech. See tell ¹

Example Sentences

They told their tale of woe to all who cared to listen.

From Literature

Here, from The Times archives, is another tale from that route.

From Los Angeles Times

It was hard to trust the stories and half-told tales that seemed more like rumor than fact.

From Literature

But then the creatives behind “Wonder Man” reached out to him with a “crazy idea”: They wanted him to portray an outlandish alternate version of himself in a cautionary tale about superpower-fueled Hollywood celebrity.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s also a confusing tale, which is probably why your brother’s alleged plan succeeded.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• account
• anecdote
• fable
• fiction
• legend
• myth
• narrative
• novel
• short story
• yarn