(~s)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
The ~ about something is all the facts about it, rather than things that are imagined or invented.
I must tell you the ~ about this business...
The ~ of the matter is that we had no other choice...
In the town very few know the whole ~.
N-UNCOUNT
2.
If you say that there is some ~ in a statement or story, you mean that it is true, or at least partly true.
There is no ~ in this story...
Is there any ~ to the rumors?...
N-UNCOUNT: oft N of/in n
3.
A ~ is something that is believed to be true.
It is an almost universal ~ that the more we are promoted in a job, the less we actually exercise the skills we initially used to perform it.
N-COUNT
4.
see also home ~ , moment of ~
5.
You say in ~ in order to indicate that you are giving your honest opinion about something.
In ~, we were both unhappy.
PHRASE: PHR with cl
6.
You say to tell you the ~ or ~ to tell in order to indicate that you are telling someone something in an open and honest way, without trying to hide anything.
To tell you the ~, I was afraid to see him...
PHRASE: PHR with cl