tale

tale
noun
ADJECTIVE
long, rambling
familiar
amazing, bizarre, curious (esp. BrE), extraordinary, fantastic, magical, marvellous/marvelous, strange
awful (esp. BrE), sad, sorry, terrible, tragic

the sorry tale of his marriage breakdown

chilling, gruesome, hair-raising, harrowing, horror, macabre
lurid, sordid, tawdry
dark

a dark tale of sexual obsession

mysterious, spooky
funny, humorous, witty (esp. BrE)
fascinating, interesting
heart-warming
simple
fanciful, incredible, tall, unlikely (esp. BrE)

a tall tale that would fool no one

true
old wives'
coming-of-age, rags-to-riches

the rags-to-riches tale of an orphan who becomes a star

epic, heroic

an epic tale of courage and heroism

cautionary, moral, morality
classic, folk, old, traditional
childhood
fairy (often figurative)

Winning the French Open was a fairy-tale end to her career.

gothic, romantic
original
VERB + TALE
narrate, recount, regale sb with, relate, tell (sb)

She regaled us with tales of her wild youth.

hear
make up, spin, weave
read, write
begin
TALE + VERB
begin
unfold
concern sb/sth, involve sb/sth
be set in … 

a tale set in 19th-century Moscow

be based on sth
PREPOSITION
tale about

a tale about a hungry snake

tale of

tales of adventure

the strange tale of the man who sold his hair

PHRASES
a tale of woe (= about failure, bad luck, etc.)
(have) a tale to tell

Each of the survivors had a terrible tale to tell.

tell tales (= to say things about sb that are untrue or that they would prefer to be secret) (BrE)

Collocations dictionary. 2013.

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Synonyms:

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 — 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 caution …   Dictionary of contemporary 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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