tale
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++LDOCE 5++tale /teɪl/ ●●● W3 noun [countable] 1 ALSTORYa story about exciting imaginary events 故事tale of tales of adventure 探险故事 a book of old Japanese folk tales (=traditional stories) 日本古老民间故事书 a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen 安徒生的一则童话 a cautionary tale (=one that is told to warn people about the dangers of something) 警示故事► see thesaurus at story2 STORYa description of interesting or exciting things that happened to someone, often one which is not completely true about every detail 〔未必完全真实的〕陈述；传说，传闻tale of/about tales of her life in post-war Berlin 有关她在战后柏林生活的传闻tale of/about how He was in the middle of telling me a long tale about how he once met Bob Dylan. 他正在和我絮絮叨叨地讲他有一次遇见红人队主教练的事。3 tell tales British EnglishLIE to tell someone in authority about something wrong that someone else has done 打小报告 SYN American English tattletell tales to Don’t go telling tales to the teacher! 不要向老师打小报告！4 tale of woe SAD/UNHAPPY a) a description of events that made you unhappy 令人伤心[悲惨]的故事 b) a series of bad things that happened to someone 连续发生的不幸 The England team’s tale of woe continued, and they lost the next three games. 英格兰队的悲剧继续上演，接下去的三场比赛他们又输了。 → fairy tale, → old wives’ tale at old(24)n COLLOCATIONS – Meanings 1 & 2ADJECTIVES/NOUN + tale a fairy taleIt looked like a castle in a fairy tale.a folk tale (=a traditional story)a book of Scottish folk talesa cautionary tale (=one that is told to warn someone about the dangers of something)This cautionary tale illustrates the dangers of looking for quick profits.a tall tale (=one that is difficult to believe and unlikely to be true)She enjoyed making up tall tales to tell the children.verbstell a taleHe liked telling tales of his adventures in the wilderness.
Examples from the Corpus
tale• 'Treasure Island' - a tale of pirates and adventure• During breaks, the group tells presentation disaster tales.• Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales• But her unbalanced monologues feel a bit artificial, her present tragedy less gripping than her tale of the past.• Her story received enormous media coverage, perhaps because many people were fascinated with this incredible tale of political transformations.• But as James' tale develops, it assumes complexity.• She told us many tales about when our father was a child.• Aline's insight underlined my conviction on holiday that this was one tale not for retelling.• In other words, the critical key to James's tales is provided by the tales themselves.• All the same, signalmen can be a fund of unexpected tales and it is always interesting to hear their stories.cautionary tale• As a cautionary tale this book works very well.• Tootle seems to be essentially a cautionary tale, warning the child to stay on the narrow road of virtue.• It is a cautionary tale told with sad humour on the border between innocence and togetherness.• That is why she offers a cautionary tale about the parent traps facing all women.• I suspect it was a cautionary tale.• Other revelations serve as cautionary tales about the importance of subordinating military officials to civilian authority.• Thank you for your cautionary tale Richard.telling ... tale• You are always telling me tales of him rebuking you.• He was standing with three friends and telling a tale in which he'd conned some adversary into covering a dubious investment.• In telling his tale of the 30s Brendon paints a vivid and vigorous canvas.• All these are antisemitic texts, telling a tale of conspiracy only slightly more sophisticated than the Protocols.• Of course, Albee is quite accustomed to telling tales about vicious people stuck in broken relationships.• I expect he was telling a tale, but even this made him a very disagreeable character.Origin tale Old English talutale noun →n COLLOCATIONS1LDOCE OnlineChinese
about a exciting story events Corpus imaginary
tale
tale W3 /teɪl/
noun [countable]
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 British English to tell someone in authority about something wrong that someone else has done
SYN tattle American English
tell 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(24)
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + tale
▪a fairy tale It looked like a castle in a fairy tale.
▪a folk tale (=a traditional story) a book of Scottish folk tales
▪a cautionary tale (=one that is told to warn someone about the dangers of something) This cautionary tale illustrates the dangers of looking for quick profits.
▪a tall tale (=one that is difficult to believe and unlikely to be true) She enjoyed making up tall tales to tell the children.
■ verbs
▪tell a tale He liked telling tales of his adventures in the wilderness.
▪ story a description of how something happened that is intended to entertain people, and may be true or imaginary: a ghost story | a love story | It’s a story about a man who loses his memory. | a book of short stories
▪tale a story about strange imaginary events, or exciting events that happened in the past: a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen | I loved hearing tales of his travels.
▪myth noun [uncountable and countable] a very old imaginary story about gods and magical creatures: an ancient myth | Greek and Roman myths
▪legend noun [uncountable and countable] an old story about brave people or magical events that are probably not true: popular legends of the creation of the world | According to legend, King Arthur was buried there.
▪fable a traditional imaginary short story that teaches a moral lesson, especially a story about animals: the fable of the tortoise and the hare | a Chinese fable
▪epic a story told in a long book, film, or poem which is about great or exciting events, especially in history: an epic about 13th-century Scottish hero William Wallace
▪saga a story about a series of events that take place over a long period of time, especially events involving one family: a family saga beginning in the 1880s
▪yarn informal a long exciting story that is not completely true: The movie’s a rattling good yarn and full of action.
tale W3 /teɪl/
noun [countable] Language: Old English
Origin: talu
1. a story about exciting imaginary eventsOrigin: talu
tale of
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
tale of/about how
3. tell tales British English to tell someone in authority about something wrong that someone else has done
SYN tattle American English
tell tales to
4. tale of woe
a. a description of events that made you unhappy
b. a series of bad things that happened to someone:
⇨ fairy tale, ⇨ old wives’ tale at old(24)
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