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tale

noun \ˈtāl\

: a story about imaginary events : an exciting or dramatic story

: a story about someone's actual experiences

: an exciting story that may not be completely true

Full Definition of TALE

obsolete : discourse, talk

a : a series of events or facts told or presented : account

b (1) : a report of a private or confidential matter <dead men tell no tales> (2) : a libelous report or piece of gossip

a : a usually imaginative narrative of an event : story

b : an intentionally untrue report : falsehood <always preferred the tale to the truth — Sir Winston Churchill>

a : count, tally

b : total

See tale defined for English-language learners

See tale defined for kids

Origin of TALE

Middle English, from Old English talu; akin to Old Norse tala talk

First Known Use: before 12th century

Related to TALE

Synonyms: canard, story, whisper

Antonyms: truth

Rhymes with TALE

ail, ale, bail, bale, Bâle, brail, braille, Braille, dale, fail, flail, frail, Gael, gale, Gale, grail, hail, hale, jail, kale, mail, male, nail, pail, pale, quail, Quayle, rail, sail, sale, scale, shale, snail, stale, swale, tael, tail, taille, trail, vail, vale, veil, wail, wale, whale, Yale

TALE Defined for Kids

tale

noun \ˈtāl\

Definition of TALE for Kids

: something told <He told a tale of woe.>

: a story about an imaginary event <fairy tales>

: ³lie

: a piece of harmful gossip

Learn More About TALE

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for "tale"

Spanish Central: Spanish translation of "tale"

Nglish: Translation of "tale" for Spanish speakers

Britannica English: Translation of "tale" for Arabic speakers

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