I. sto ‧ rey BrE AmE British English , story American English /ˈstɔːri/ noun [countable]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Origin: story ; perhaps because some medieval buildings had paintings on their walls telling stories ]
a floor or level of a building:
a staircase leads to the upper storey
two-storey/five-storey etc (=having two etc storeys)
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ floor one of the levels in a building:
She lives in an apartment on the eighteenth floor.
▪ storey British English , story American English used when saying how many levels a building has:
a five-storey car park
|
The school is a single storey building.
▪ the ground floor ( also the first floor American English ) the floor of a building that is at ground level:
There is a shop on the ground floor.
|
The emergency room is on the first floor.
▪ the first floor British English , the second floor American English the floor of a building above the one at ground level:
She lives on the first floor.
▪ deck one of the levels on a ship, bus, or plane:
The Horizon Lounge is on the top deck of the ship.
II. sto ‧ ry S1 W1 /ˈstɔːri/ BrE AmE noun ( plural stories ) [countable]
[ Date: 1200-1300 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: estorie , from Latin historia ; ⇨ ↑ history ]
1 . FOR ENTERTAINMENT a description of how something happened, that is intended to entertain people, and may be true or imaginary ⇨ tale
story about/of
a story about a princess
fairy/ghost/love etc story
a detective story
tell/read somebody a story
Mommy, will you read me a story?
a book of short stories
We cuddled together over a bedtime story.
The film was based on a true story.
Don’t be frightened – it’s only a story (=it is imaginary) .
2 . NEWS a report in a newspaper or news broadcast about a recent event, or something that is reported on:
a front-page story
‘The Observer’ ran a story about the scandal (=printed it) .
cover story (=the main story in a magazine, which is about the picture on the cover)
3 . EVENTS an account of something that has happened, usually one that people tell each other, and which may not be true:
The full story of what happened has never been reported.
Her parents did not believe her story.
First, he wanted to hear Matthew’s side of the story (=his description of what happened) .
He was having an affair with Julie, or so the story goes (=people are saying this) .
4 . EXCUSE an excuse or explanation, especially one that you have invented:
Where were you? And don’t give me some story about working late!
Well, that’s my story (=that is what I say happened) , and I’m sticking to it.
5 . HISTORY a description of the most important events in someone’s life or in the development of something:
the Charlie Parker Story
He wanted to have his life story told on film.
6 . BUILDING American English a floor or level of a building SYN storey British English :
a 50-story building
7 . OF A FILM/PLAY ETC what happens in a film, play, or book SYN plot :
The story is similar in all her books.
8 . it’s the same story here/there/in ... used to say the same thing is happening in another place:
Unemployment is falling in the US, and it’s the same story in Europe.
• • •
SPOKEN PHRASES
9 . it’s the same old story used to say that the present bad situation has often happened before:
It’s the same old story – too much work and not enough time.
10 . it’s a long story used to tell someone that you do not want to give them all the details that a full answer to their question would need
11 . to cut a long story short ( also to make a long story short American English ) used when you only give the main point of something you are talking about, and not all the other details
12 . but that’s another story used when you have mentioned something that you are not going to talk about on this occasion
13 . that’s not the whole story used to say that there are more details which people need to know in order to understand the situation
14 . that’s the story of my life used after a disappointing experience to mean that similar disappointing things always seem to happen to you
15 . end of story used to say that there is nothing more to say about a particular subject:
As far as I’m concerned, Terry is still a friend – end of story.
16 . it's a different story used to say that something is not what you expect it to be:
It looks like a big house, but inside it’s a different story.
17 . LIE a lie – used by children or when speaking to children SYN tale :
You shouldn’t tell stories.
⇨ ↑ short story , ⇨ cock and bull story at ↑ cock 1 (4), ⇨ ↑ hard-luck story , ↑ sob story , ⇨ success story at ↑ success (5)
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 1)
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + story
▪ a true story
‘Schindler’s List’ tells the true story of Oskar Schindler.
▪ a classic story (=old and admired by many people, or typical and good )
a classic story about a little girl who falls down a rabbit hole
▪ a short story
He has published two collections of short stories.
▪ a children’s story
Enid Blyton is famous for writing children’s stories.
▪ a love story
‘Romeo and Juliet’ is a classic love story.
▪ a fairy story (=a children's story in which magical things happen)
She looked like a princess in a fairy story.
▪ an adventure story
an exciting adventure story for children
▪ a detective story
Most detective stories are about a murder.
▪ a ghost/horror story
They sat round the fire telling ghost stories.
|
She likes reading horror stories.
▪ a bedtime story (=one that you read to a child before they go to sleep)
He remembered his mother reading him a bedtime story.
■ verbs
▪ tell (somebody) a story
Would you like me to tell you a story?
▪ read (somebody) a story
She read a lot of detective stories.
▪ write a story
The story was written by Lewis Carroll.
■ COMMON ERRORS
► Do not say ' say (somebody) a story '. Say tell (somebody) a story .
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 2)
■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + story
▪ a big story (=a report about something important)
He had promised the newspaper a big story on a major celebrity.
▪ the lead/top story (=the most important story in a newspaper or news programme)
The floods were the lead story on the news that evening.
▪ a front-page story
The Times published a front-page story about the scandal.
▪ a cover story (=the main story in a magazine, mentioned on the cover)
Hello magazine did a cover story on her last year.
■ verbs
▪ do a story (=write and then print or broadcast it)
I went to Iraq to do a story on the war.
▪ print/publish a story
The News of the World decided not to print the story.
▪ run a story (=print it or broadcast it)
There wasn't enough definite information to run the story.
▪ cover a story (=report on it)
Her family complained about the way that journalists had covered the story.
▪ break a story (=report on it for the first time)
The Daily Mail was the paper which broke the story.
▪ leak a story (=secretly tell a reporter about it)
We may never know who leaked the story to the press.
▪ a story breaks (=it is reported for the first time)
I still remember the shock when that story broke.
• • •
THESAURUS
▪ 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.
• • •
COLLOCATIONS (for Meanings 3 & 4)
■ verbs
▪ tell (somebody) a story ( also recount/relate a story formal )
I'd better tell you the whole story from the beginning.
|
He laughed as he recounted the story.
▪ give (somebody) a story
I had the feeling that she wasn't giving me the full story.
▪ hear a story ( also listen to a story )
I’ve heard that story a hundred times.
▪ make up/invent a story
She confessed to making up the story of being abducted.
▪ stick to your story (=keep saying it is true)
He didn’t believe her at first, but she stuck to her story.
▪ change your story
During police interviews, Harper changed his story several times.
▪ believe a story
The jury did not believe Evans's story.
▪ swap stories (=tell each other stories)
They swapped stories and shared their experiences.
▪ the story goes (=this is what is people say happened)
The story goes that he was drowned off the south coast, but not everyone believed it.
▪ a story goes around (=people tell it to each other)
A story went around that she had been having an affair.
■ adjectives
▪ the full/whole story
I did not know the full story.
▪ a plausible/convincing story
She tried to think up a convincing story to tell her parents.
▪ a remarkable story
The film tells the remarkable story of their escape from a prison camp.
▪ an apocryphal story (=one that is well-known but probably not true)
There are many apocryphal stories about him.
▪ the inside story (=including facts that are known only to people involved)
Though I’d seen the official report, I wanted the inside story.
■ phrases
▪ sb’s side of the story (=someone’s account of what happened, which may be different from someone else’s)
I would like to give my side of the story.