/ ˈstɔːri; NAmE / noun ( pl. -ies )
1.
story (about / of sth/sb) a description of events and people that the writer or speaker has invented in order to entertain people :
adventure / detective / love, etc. stories
a story about time travel
Shall I tell you a story ?
He read the children a story .
a bedtime story
—see also fairy story , ghost story , short story
2.
story (about / of sth/sb) an account, often spoken, of what happened to sb or of how sth happened :
It was many years before the full story was made public.
The police didn't believe her story.
We must stick to our story about the accident.
I can't decide until I've heard both sides of the story .
It's a story of courage.
Many years later I returned to Africa but that's another story (= I am not going to talk about it now) .
—see also cock and bull story , hard-luck story , life story , shaggy-dog story , sob story , success story , tall story ➡ note at report
3.
an account of past events or of how sth has developed :
He told us the story of his life.
the story of the Beatles
the story of the building of the bridge
4.
a report in a newspaper, magazine or news broadcast :
a front-page story
Now for a summary of tonight's main news stories.
—see also cover story , lead story
5.
(also story·line ) the series of events in a book, film / movie, play, etc.
SYN plot :
Her novels always have the same basic story.
6.
( informal ) something that sb says which is not true :
She knew the child had been telling stories again.
7.
( NAmE ) = storey
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IDIOMS
- the story goes (that) ... | so the story goes
- that's the story of my life
—more at likely adjective , long adjective , old , pitch verb , tell
••
WORD ORIGIN
Middle English (denoting a historical account or representation): shortening of Anglo-Norman French estorie , from Latin historia from Greek historia finding out, narrative, history, from histōr learned, wise man, from an Indo-European root shared by wit have knowledge .