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tale

[ teyl ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

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.

tale

/ �ٱ�ɪ�� /

noun

a report, narrative, or story
one of a group of short stories connected by an overall narrative framework
1. a malicious or meddlesome rumour or piece of gossip
  to bear tales against someone
2. ( in combination )
  talebearer
  taleteller
a fictitious or false statement
tell tales
1. to tell fanciful lies
2. 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.
1. a number; amount
2. computation or enumeration
an obsolete word for talk

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Word History and Origins

Origin of tale¹

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

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Word History and Origins

Origin of tale¹

Old English talu list; related to Old Frisian tele talk, Old Saxon, Old Norse tala talk, number, Old High German zala number

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Idioms and Phrases

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

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Many see it as just the latest chapter in an age-old tale of U.S. aggression.

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Given that his old ally Hegseth fired him and is now recommending he be prosecuted, Caldwell’s tale doesn’t pass the laugh test.

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A grand jury inquiry into whether charges should be brought against Aimee’s kidnappers — but which actually served to challenge her tale — was conducted publicly.

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The press release for his birthday show calls the performance “an endless bag of trans-gressive, and hetero-non-aggressive twisted tales that will warm the dark little hearts of non-binary brats all over the world.”

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The tears, and Mourinho's account 15 years later, tell a different, more sentimental tale.

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Related Words

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

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