Entry Word: tale

Function: noun

Meaning: 1 a rumor or report of a personal or sensational nature <donʼt believe the tales you hear about our neighborʼs kid>

Synonyms story, whisper

Related Words dirt, gossip, scuttlebutt, talebearing, talk, tattle; defamation, libel, slander; hearsay; fabrication, fairy tale, falsehood, falsity, fib, lie

2 a brief account of something interesting that happened especially to one personally <asked Dad to tell the tale of how, as a kid, he broke his arm jumping out of a tree> — see story 2
3 a statement known by its maker to be untrue and made in order to deceive <told tall tales in an attempt to impress me with her British background> — see lie
4 a work with imaginary characters and events that is shorter and usually less complex than a novel <when we asked for a bedtime story, Dad read us the tale of Sleeping Beauty> — see story 1