TALE

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A trivial lie

Example:

how can I stop my child from telling stories?

Synonyms:

fib; story; tale; taradiddle; tarradiddle

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("tale" is a kind of...):

lie; prevarication (a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tale"):

cock-and-bull story; fairy story; fairy tale; fairytale; song and dance (an interesting but highly implausible story; often told as an excuse)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program

Example:

Disney's stories entertain adults as well as children

Synonyms:

narration; narrative; story; tale

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("tale" is a kind of...):

content; message; subject matter; substance (what a communication that is about something is about)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tale"):

tearjerker (an excessively sentimental narrative)

tall tale (an improbable (unusual or incredible or fanciful) story)

folk tale; folktale (a tale circulated by word of mouth among the common folk)

sob story; sob stuff (a sentimental story (or drama) of personal distress; designed to arouse sympathy)

fairy story; fairy tale; fairytale (a story about fairies; told to amuse children)

nursery rhyme (a tale in rhymed verse for children)

Instance hyponyms:

Canterbury Tales (an uncompleted series of tales written after 1387 by Geoffrey Chaucer)

Derivation:

tell (let something be known)

tell (narrate or give a detailed account of)

Credits

Context examples:

The chill and the vapour taken together told a poor tale of the island.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

"This is a tale I hear," said Oona, though her voice was gentler than before.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

They were also significantly more likely to have a thinner retina - one of the tell-tale signs of early glaucoma.

(Air Pollution Can Trigger Glaucoma, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

The tale of the tortoise and the hare is being retold.

(Race across the tundra: White spruce vs. snowshoe hare, National Science Foundation)

Blood is too precious a thing in these days of dishonourable peace; and the glories of the great races are as a tale that is told.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Never, he swore, had there been the like of this animal; and the Indians in strange villages swore likewise when they considered the tale of his killings amongst their dogs.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

He compared the tale, as yet unwritten, with the tales of the sea-writers, and he felt it to be immeasurably superior.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

This tale of our client’s appeared to have an extraordinary effect upon Sherlock Holmes.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

If you have a strong, harmonious romantic relationship, then this eclipse may trigger a proposal, engagement, or a fairy-tale wedding this month.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

This is a tell-tale sign that the dwarf galaxy came in on a really eccentric orbit and its fate was sealed.