story
♦♦♦ sto|ry /st'ɔːri/ (stories)
1 [N-COUNT]
A story is a description of imaginary people and events, which is written or told in order to entertain.
I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits.
...a popular love story with a happy ending.
2 [N-COUNT]
A story is a description of an event or something that happened to someone, especially a spoken description of it.
The parents all shared interesting stories about their children...
Isak's story is typical of a child who has a specific learning disability.
3 [N-COUNT] usu N of n
The story of something is a description of all the important things that have happened to it since it began.
...the story of the women's movement in Ireland.
4 [N-COUNT]
If someone invents a story, they give a false explanation or account of something.
He invented some story about a cousin.
= tale, yarn
5 [N-COUNT]
A news story is a piece of news in a newspaper or in a news broadcast.
Those are some of the top stories in the news...
They'll do anything for a story.
...front-page news stories.
6
see storey
see -storey
7
see also cock-and-bull story, short story, success story, success story, tall story
8 [PHRASE] V inflects
In British English, you use to cut a long story short to indicate that you are going to state the final result of an event and not give any more details. In American English, you say to make a long story short.
To cut a long story short, I ended up as managing director.
9 [PHRASE] usu v-link PHR
You use a different story to refer to a situation, usually a bad one, which exists in one set of circumstances when you have mentioned that it does not exist in another set of circumstances.
Where Marcella lives, the rents are fairly cheap, but a little further north it's a different story.
10 [PHRASE] v-link PHR
If you say it's the same old story or it's the old story, you mean that something unpleasant or undesirable seems to happen again and again.
It's the same old story. They want one person to do three people's jobs.
11 [PHRASE] usu v-link PHR
If you say that something is only part of the story or is not the whole story, you mean that the explanation or information given is not enough for a situation to be fully understood.
This may be true but it is only part of the story...
Jane goes to great lengths to explain that this is not the whole story.
12 [PHRASE] side inflects
If someone tells you their side of the story, they tell you why they behaved in a particular way and why they think they were right, when other people think that person behaved wrongly.
He had already made up his mind before even hearing her side of the story.cock-and-bull sto|ry (cock-and-bull stories)
[N-COUNT]
If you describe something that someone tells you as a cock-and-bull story, you mean that you do not believe it is true. (INFORMAL)fairy sto|ry (fairy stories)
[N-COUNT]
A fairy story is the same as a fairy tale.ghost sto|ry (ghost stories)
[N-COUNT]
A ghost story is a story about ghosts.love sto|ry (love stories)
[N-COUNT]
A love story is something such as a novel or film about a love affair.scare sto|ry (scare stories)
[N-COUNT]
A scare story is something that is said or written to make people feel frightened and think that a situation is much more unpleasant or dangerous than it really is.
He described talk of sackings as scare stories.short sto|ry (short stories)
[N-COUNT]
A short story is a written story about imaginary events that is only a few pages long.
He published a collection of short stories.sob sto|ry (sob stories)
[N-COUNT]
You describe what someone tells you about their own or someone else's difficulties as a sob story when you think that they have told you about it in order to get your sympathy.
Any sob story moved Jarvis to generosity.suc|cess sto|ry (success stories)
[N-COUNT]
Someone or something that is a success story is very successful, often unexpectedly or in spite of unfavourable conditions.
Sock Shop was one of the high-street success stories of the 80s.tall sto|ry (tall stories)
[N-COUNT]
A tall story is the same as a tall tale.
1 [N-COUNT]
A story is a description of imaginary people and events, which is written or told in order to entertain.
I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits.
...a popular love story with a happy ending.
2 [N-COUNT]
A story is a description of an event or something that happened to someone, especially a spoken description of it.
The parents all shared interesting stories about their children...
Isak's story is typical of a child who has a specific learning disability.
3 [N-COUNT] usu N of n
The story of something is a description of all the important things that have happened to it since it began.
...the story of the women's movement in Ireland.
4 [N-COUNT]
If someone invents a story, they give a false explanation or account of something.
He invented some story about a cousin.
= tale, yarn
5 [N-COUNT]
A news story is a piece of news in a newspaper or in a news broadcast.
Those are some of the top stories in the news...
They'll do anything for a story.
...front-page news stories.
6
see storey
see -storey
7
see also cock-and-bull story, short story, success story, success story, tall story
8 [PHRASE] V inflects
In British English, you use to cut a long story short to indicate that you are going to state the final result of an event and not give any more details. In American English, you say to make a long story short.
To cut a long story short, I ended up as managing director.
9 [PHRASE] usu v-link PHR
You use a different story to refer to a situation, usually a bad one, which exists in one set of circumstances when you have mentioned that it does not exist in another set of circumstances.
Where Marcella lives, the rents are fairly cheap, but a little further north it's a different story.
10 [PHRASE] v-link PHR
If you say it's the same old story or it's the old story, you mean that something unpleasant or undesirable seems to happen again and again.
It's the same old story. They want one person to do three people's jobs.
11 [PHRASE] usu v-link PHR
If you say that something is only part of the story or is not the whole story, you mean that the explanation or information given is not enough for a situation to be fully understood.
This may be true but it is only part of the story...
Jane goes to great lengths to explain that this is not the whole story.
12 [PHRASE] side inflects
If someone tells you their side of the story, they tell you why they behaved in a particular way and why they think they were right, when other people think that person behaved wrongly.
He had already made up his mind before even hearing her side of the story.cock-and-bull sto|ry (cock-and-bull stories)
[N-COUNT]
If you describe something that someone tells you as a cock-and-bull story, you mean that you do not believe it is true. (INFORMAL)fairy sto|ry (fairy stories)
[N-COUNT]
A fairy story is the same as a fairy tale.ghost sto|ry (ghost stories)
[N-COUNT]
A ghost story is a story about ghosts.love sto|ry (love stories)
[N-COUNT]
A love story is something such as a novel or film about a love affair.scare sto|ry (scare stories)
[N-COUNT]
A scare story is something that is said or written to make people feel frightened and think that a situation is much more unpleasant or dangerous than it really is.
He described talk of sackings as scare stories.short sto|ry (short stories)
[N-COUNT]
A short story is a written story about imaginary events that is only a few pages long.
He published a collection of short stories.sob sto|ry (sob stories)
[N-COUNT]
You describe what someone tells you about their own or someone else's difficulties as a sob story when you think that they have told you about it in order to get your sympathy.
Any sob story moved Jarvis to generosity.suc|cess sto|ry (success stories)
[N-COUNT]
Someone or something that is a success story is very successful, often unexpectedly or in spite of unfavourable conditions.
Sock Shop was one of the high-street success stories of the 80s.tall sto|ry (tall stories)
[N-COUNT]
A tall story is the same as a tall tale.