tale

tale
tale
W3 [teıl] n
[: Old English; Origin: talu]
1.) a story about exciting imaginary events
tale of
▪ tales of adventure
▪ a book of old Japanese folk tales (=traditional stories)
▪ a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen
▪ a cautionary tale (=one that is told to warn people about the dangers of something )
2.) a description of interesting or exciting things that happened to someone, often one which is not completely true about every detail
tale of/about
▪ tales of her life in post-war Berlin
tale of/about how
▪ He was in the middle of telling me a long tale about how he once met the Redskins' manager.
3.) tell tales
BrE to tell someone in authority about something wrong that someone else has done
American Equivalent: tattletell tales to
▪ Don't go telling tales to the teacher!
4.) tale of woe
a) a description of events that made you unhappy
b) a series of bad things that happened to someone
▪ The England team's tale of woe continued, and they lost the next three games.
→↑fairy tale,old wives' tale at ↑old

Dictionary of contemporary English. 2013.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • talé — talé …   Dictionnaire des rimes

  • Tale — Tale, n. [AS. talu number, speech, narrative; akin to D. taal speech, language, G. zahl number, OHG. zala, Icel. tal, tala, number, speech, Sw. tal, Dan. tal number, tale speech, Goth. talzjan to instruct. Cf. {Tell}, v. t., {Toll} a tax, also… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Tale — may refer to:*Cautionary tale, a traditional story told in folklore, to warn its hearer of a danger *Fairy tale, a fictional story that usually features folkloric characters (such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, witches, giants, and talking… …   Wikipedia

  • tale — [ teıl ] noun count ** 1. ) a story about imaginary events or people: tale of: tales of bravery and romance 2. ) a spoken account of someone s experiences, especially when they are made to seem more exciting or unpleasant than they really were:… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • talé — talé, ée [ tale ] adj. • taulé « broyé » v. 1330; repris 1860; de taler ♦ Meurtri, taché, en parlant des fruits. Pêches talées. ⊗ HOM. Taller. ● talé Participe passé de taler. talé, ée [tale] adj. ÉTYM. V. 1330, taulé « …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • tale — [n1] story account, anecdote, fable, fairy tale, fiction, folk tale, legend, myth, narration, narrative, novel, relation, report, romance, saga, short story, yarn; concept 282 tale [n2] made up story canard, chestnut*, clothesline*, cock and bull …   New thesaurus

  • Tale — (Балтэзерс,Латвия) Категория отеля: Адрес: Senču prospekts 45, Балтэзерс, LV 2164, Латвия …   Каталог отелей

  • tale — (n.) O.E. talu story, tale, the action of telling, from P.Gmc. *talo (Cf. Du. taal speech, language ), from PIE root *del to recount, count. The secondary English sense of number, numerical reckoning (c.1200) probably was the primary one in… …   Etymology dictionary

  • Tale — Tale, n. See {Tael}. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Tale — Tale, v. i. To tell stories. [Obs.] Chaucer. Gower. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

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