story
noun OPAL S
/ˈstɔːri/
/ˈstɔːri/
(plural stories)
Idioms - a description of events and people that the writer or speaker has invented in order to entertain people
- a tragic love story
- adventure/detective stories
- a bedtime story
- Shall I tell you a story?
- He read the children a story.
- She writes poems and stories for children.
- story about somebody/something a story about time travel
- story of somebody/something The book tells the story of a man who leads a double life.
- in the story What are the key events in the story?
Collocations LiteratureLiteratureBeing a writer- write/publish literature/poetry/fiction/a book/a story/a poem/a novel/a review/an autobiography
- become a writer/novelist/playwright
- find/have a publisher/an agent
- have a new book out
- edit/revise/proofread a book/text/manuscript
- dedicate a book/poem to…
- construct/create/weave/weave something into a complex narrative
- advance/drive the plot
- introduce/present the protagonist/a character
- describe/depict/portray a character (as…)/(somebody as) a hero/villain
- create an exciting/a tense atmosphere
- build/heighten the suspense/tension
- evoke/capture the pathos of the situation
- convey emotion/an idea/an impression/a sense of…
- engage the reader
- seize/capture/grip the (reader’s) imagination
- arouse/elicit emotion/sympathy (in the reader)
- lack imagination/emotion/structure/rhythm
- use/employ language/imagery/humour/(US English) humor/an image/a symbol/a metaphor/a device
- use/adopt/develop a style/technique
- be rich in/be full of symbolism
- evoke images of…/a sense of…/a feeling of…
- create/achieve an effect
- maintain/lighten the tone
- introduce/develop an idea/a theme
- inspire a novel/a poet/somebody’s work/somebody’s imagination
- read an author/somebody’s work/fiction/poetry/a text/a poem/a novel/a chapter/a passage
- review a book/a novel/somebody’s work
- give something/get/have/receive a good/bad review
- be hailed (as)/be recognized as a masterpiece
- quote a(n) phrase/line/stanza/passage/author
- provoke/spark discussion/criticism
- study/interpret/understand a text/passage
- translate somebody’s work/a text/a passage/a novel/a poem
Homophones storey | storystorey storysee also detective story, fairy story, ghost story, horror story (1), short story/ˈstɔːri//ˈstɔːri/- storey noun
- There are splendid views from the tenth storey.
- story noun
- It's not real—it's just a story.
Wordfinder- comic
- far-fetched
- gripping
- historical
- mannered
- moving
- rambling
- readable
- story
- tragic
Extra ExamplesTopics Literature and writinga1- I always read the children a bedtime story.
- a collection of stories by modern writers
- The story is set in India in the 1930s.
- The story opens with a man hiding from the police under a woman's skirt.
- The motives of the hero become clearer as the story unfolds.
- My dad sometimes read me a story at bedtime.
- The book contains stories from all over the world.
- Who was the story written by?
- The play tells the story of a young woman called Rosa.
- The simple moral of the story is that dreams will come true if you work hard.
- The story ended tragically.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- true
- plausible
- false
- …
- collection
- hear
- read (somebody)
- write
- …
- circulate
- go around
- go round
- …
- teller
- telling
- line
- …
- according to a/the story
- story about
- story of
- …
- a fragment of a/the story
- a part of a/the story
- the rest of the story
- …
- (also storyline)the series of events in a book, film, play, etc. synonym plot
- Her novels always have the same basic story.
- The screenplay sticks to the original story.
- The character's central story arc involves a difficult choice between love and duty.
Extra Examples- The film lacks a coherent story.
- The film is the rags-to-riches story of a country girl who becomes a famous singer.
- The film tells the improbable story of a monkey that becomes a politician.
- an account of past events or of how something has developed
- The film is based on a true story.
- to recount/relate a story
- story of something/somebody He told us the story of his life.
- the story of the Beatles
- the story of the building of the bridge
- story behind something/somebody Every piece of art has an interesting story behind it.
Extra Examples- the epic story of a family's escape from war
- the familiar story of a star who turns to drink and drugs
- The story of jazz is the story of modern America.
- The real story is much more interesting than the film version.
- There are different versions of her story.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- true
- plausible
- false
- …
- collection
- hear
- read (somebody)
- write
- …
- circulate
- go around
- go round
- …
- teller
- telling
- line
- …
- according to a/the story
- story about
- story of
- …
- a fragment of a/the story
- a part of a/the story
- the rest of the story
- …
- an account, often spoken, of what happened to somebody or of how something happened
- The police didn't believe her story.
- I suspected he hadn't told us the whole story.
- It was many years before the full story was made public.
- The students were asked to share their stories.
- story about something/somebody We must stick to our story about the accident.
- We all hear stories about young people leaving the countryside.
- story of something/somebody It's a story of courage.
- I can't decide until I've heard both sides of the story.
- Many years later I returned to Africa but that's another story (= I am not going to talk about it now).
Synonyms reportreportsee also cock and bull story, cover story (2), hard-luck story, horror story (2), life story, shaggy-dog story, sob story, success story, tall story- story
- account
- version
- report a written or spoken account of an event, especially one that is published or broadcast:
- Are these newspaper reports true?
- story an account, often spoken, of what happened to somebody or of how something happened; a report of events in a newspaper, magazine or news broadcast:
- It was many years before the full story was made public.
- the front-page story
- account a written or spoken description of something that has happened:
- She gave the police a full account of the incident.
- version a description of an event from the point of view of a particular person or group of people:
- She gave us her version of what had happened that day.
- a report/story about something
- a brief/short report/story/account
- a full report/story/account/version
- a news report/story
- to give a(n) report/account/version
Extra Examples- ‘How come you've only got one shoe on?’ ‘It's a long story.’
- A story was going around that the factory was in line for closure.
- According to Rachel's version of the story, they threw the key in the river.
- At first he denied everything, but then he changed his story and said it was an accident.
- She told the police a false story about being attacked.
- Stories abound of vandalism and looting.
- There is one popular story in the town of a man-eating cat that lives in the forest.
- We had difficulty in piecing together the fragments of her story.
- We swapped stories about our worst teachers.
- lurid stories of politicians' sexual adventures
- scare stories about the harmful effects of the vaccination
- the story of his arrest
- He's been spreading malicious stories about you.
- His life was a sorry story of betrayal and rejection.
- The moral of this story is that you should never take things for granted.
- The official story was that the singer had broken his arm falling in the shower.
- The teacher punished me without listening to my side of the story.
- This story illustrates the dangers of living on credit.
- What's the story on the trial?
- All of them had an interesting story to tell.
- Answers can take any form from personal stories to poems.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- true
- plausible
- false
- …
- collection
- hear
- read (somebody)
- write
- …
- circulate
- go around
- go round
- …
- teller
- telling
- line
- …
- according to a/the story
- story about
- story of
- …
- a fragment of a/the story
- a part of a/the story
- the rest of the story
- …
- a report in a newspaper, magazine or news broadcast
- a front-page story
- Now for a summary of tonight's main news stories.
- Let's check the top stories right now.
- the two biggest stories of the day
- He was covering the story for the ‘Glasgow Herald’.
Extra Examples- We'll have more on this breaking story as developments come in to us.
- The story broke in January.
- The New York Times broke the story and others picked it up.
- We will continue to follow this story and bring you the latest developments.
- The magazine chose the peace process as its cover story.
- The magazine gives the inside story of life in a rock band.
- The biggest story of the day was the signing of the peace agreement.
- National Geographic ran a feature story on dinosaurs.
- More than one correspondent filed a story about the incident.
- He's covering the story in Gaza for CNN.
- Full story on page 3.
- Every newspaper carried the story.
- And now back to our top story tonight…
- This interview may be the biggest story of his career.
- No newspaper would publish the story.
- Le Monde ran the story on the front page.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- big
- huge
- top
- …
- file
- write
- carry
- …
- break
- story about
- story of
- (informal) something that somebody says which is not true
- She knew the child had been telling stories again.
- (US English) (British English storey)a level of a building; a floor
Word OriginMiddle 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’.
Idioms
a likely story
- (informal, ironic) used to show that you do not believe what somebody has said
- You just found it lying in the street? A likely story!
- He said he'd met Rihanna. A likely story.
(to cut a) long story short (British English)
(North American English (to make a) long story short)
- (informal) used when you are saying that you will get to the point of what you are saying quickly, without including all the details
- To cut a long story short, we didn’t get home until 3 in the morning!
- Anyway, long story short: we had this argument and I haven't seen him since.
the (same) old story
- what usually happens
- It's the same old story of a badly managed project with inadequate funding.
pitch a story/line/yarn (to somebody)
- (informal) to tell somebody a story or make an excuse that is not true
the story goes (that)… | so the story goes
- used to describe something that people are saying although it may not be correct
- She never saw him again—or so the story goes.
- The story goes that this castle was founded by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.
tell a different story/tale
- to give some information that is different from what you expect or have been told
- These drugs are widely believed to be effective medications. The data, however, tell a different story.
tell its own tale/story
- to explain itself, without needing any further explanation or comment
- Her face told its own story.
that’s the story of my life
- (informal) when you say that’s the story of my life about a bad experience you have had, you mean you have had many similar experiences
- Another missed opportunity—that’s the story of my life!
- Out of work with no money—that's the story of my life.