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Story definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

STORY, n. [L., Gr.]
1. A verbal narration or recital of a series of facts or incidents. WE observe in children a strong passion for hearing stories.
2. A written narrative of a series of facts or events. There is probably on record no story more interesting than that of Joseph in Genesis.
3. History; a written narrative or account of past transactions, whether relating to nations or individuals.
The four great monarchies make the subject of ancient story.
4. Petty tale; relation of a single incident or of trifling incidents.
5. A trifling tale; a fiction; a fable; as the story of a fairy. In popular usage, story is sometimes a softer term for a lie.
6. A loft; a floor; or a set of rooms on the same floor or level. A story comprehends the distance from one floor to another; as a story of nine or ten feet elevation. Hence each floor terminating the space is called a story; as a house of one story, of two stories, of five stories. The farm houses in New England have usually two stories; the houses in Paris have usually five stories; a few have more; those in London four. But in the United States the floor next the ground is the first story; in France and England, the first floor or story, is the second from the ground.
STORY, v.t.
1. To tell in historical relation; to narrate.
How worthy he is, I will leave to appear hereafter, rather than story him in his own hearing.
It is storied of the brazen colossus in Rhodes, that it was seventy cubits high.
[This verb is chiefly used in the passive participle.]
2. To range one under another. [Little used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program; "his narrative was interesting"; "Disney's stories entertain adults as well as children" [syn: narrative, narration, story, tale]
2: a piece of fiction that narrates a chain of related events; "he writes stories for the magazines"
3: a structure consisting of a room or set of rooms at a single position along a vertical scale; "what level is the office on?" [syn: floor, level, storey, story]
4: a record or narrative description of past events; "a history of France"; "he gave an inaccurate account of the plot to kill the president"; "the story of exposure to lead" [syn: history, account, chronicle, story]
5: a short account of the news; "the report of his speech"; "the story was on the 11 o'clock news"; "the account of his speech that was given on the evening news made the governor furious" [syn: report, news report, story, account, write up]
6: a trivial lie; "he told a fib about eating his spinach"; "how can I stop my child from telling stories?" [syn: fib, story, tale, tarradiddle, taradiddle]

Merriam Webster's

I. biographical name Joseph 1779-1845 American jurist II. biographical name William Wetmore 1819-1895 son of preceding American sculptor

Merriam Webster's

I. noun (plural stories) Etymology: Middle English storie, from Anglo-French estoire, estorie, from Latin historia — more at history Date: 13th century 1. archaic a. history 1 b. history 3 2. a. an account of incidents or events b. a statement regarding the facts pertinent to a situation in question c. anecdote; especially an amusing one 3. a. a fictional narrative shorter than a novel; specifically short story b. the intrigue or plot of a narrative or dramatic work 4. a widely circulated rumor 5. lie, falsehood 6. legend, romance 7. a news article or broadcast 8. matter, situation II. transitive verb (storied; storying) Date: 15th century 1. archaic to narrate or describe in story 2. to adorn with a story or a scene from history III. noun also storey (plural stories; also storeys) Etymology: Middle English storie, from Medieval Latin historia narrative, illustration, story of a building, from Latin, history, tale; probably from narrative friezes on the window level of medieval buildings Date: 14th century 1. a. the space in a building between two adjacent floor levels or between a floor and the roof b. a set of rooms in such a space c. a unit of measure equal to the height of the story of a building <one story high> 2. a horizontal division of a building's exterior not necessarily corresponding exactly with the stories within

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. (pl. -ies) 1 an account of imaginary or past events; a narrative, tale, or anecdote. 2 the past course of the life of a person or institution etc. (my story is a strange one). 3 (in full story-line) the narrative or plot of a novel or play etc. 4 facts or experiences that deserve narration. 5 colloq. a fib or lie. 6 a narrative or descriptive item of news. Phrases and idioms: the old (or same old) story the familiar or predictable course of events. story-book 1 a book of stories for children. 2 (attrib.) unreal, romantic (a story-book ending). the story goes it is said. to cut (or make) a long story short a formula excusing the omission of details. Etymology: ME storie f. AF estorie (OF estoire) f. L historia (as HISTORY) 2. var. of STOREY.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Story Sto"ry, n.; pl. Stories. [OF. estor['e], estor['e]e, built, erected, p. p. of estorer to build, restore, to store. See Store, v. t.] A set of rooms on the same floor or level; a floor, or the space between two floors. Also, a horizontal division of a building's exterior considered architecturally, which need not correspond exactly with the stories within. [Written also storey.] Note: A story comprehends the distance from one floor to another; as, a story of nine or ten feet elevation. The spaces between floors are numbered in order, from below upward; as, the lower, second, or third story; a house of one story, of two stories, of five stories. Story post (Arch.), a vertical post used to support a floor or superincumbent wall.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Story Sto"ry, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Storied; p. pr. & vb. n. Storying.] To tell in historical relation; to make the subject of a story; to narrate or describe in story. How worthy he is I will leave to appear hereafter, rather than story him in his own hearing. --Shak. It is storied of the brazen colossus in Rhodes, that it was seventy cubits high. --Bp. Wilkins.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Story Sto"ry, n. [OE. storie, OF. estoire, F. histoire, fr. L. historia. See History.] 1. A narration or recital of that which has occurred; a description of past events; a history; a statement; a record. One malcontent who did indeed get a name in story. --Barrow. Venice, with its unique city and its Impressive story. --Ed. Rev. The four great monarchies make the subject of ancient story. --Sir W. Temple. 2. The relation of an incident or minor event; a short narrative; a tale; especially, a fictitious narrative less elaborate than a novel; a short romance. --Addison. 3. A euphemism or child's word for ``a lie;'' a fib; as, to tell a story. [Colloq.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(stories) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. A story is a description of imaginary people and events, which is written or told in order to entertain. I shall tell you a story about four little rabbits. ...a popular love story with a happy ending. N-COUNT 2. A story is a description of an event or something that happened to someone, especially a spoken description of it. The parents all shared interesting stories about their children... Isak's story is typical of a child who has a specific learning disability. N-COUNT 3. The story of something is a description of all the important things that have happened to it since it began. ...the story of the women's movement in Ireland. N-COUNT: usu N of n 4. If someone invents a story, they give a false explanation or account of something. He invented some story about a cousin. = tale, yarn N-COUNT 5. A news story is a piece of news in a newspaper or in a news broadcast. Those are some of the top stories in the news... They'll do anything for a story. ...front-page news stories. N-COUNT 6. see storey see -storey 7. see also cock-and-bull story, short story, sob story, success story, tall story 8. In British English, you use to cut a long story short to indicate that you are going to state the final result of an event and not give any more details. In American English, you say to make a long story short. To cut a long story short, I ended up as managing director. PHRASE: V inflects 9. You use a different story to refer to a situation, usually a bad one, which exists in one set of circumstances when you have mentioned that it does not exist in another set of circumstances. Where Marcella lives, the rents are fairly cheap, but a little further north it's a different story. PHRASE: usu v-link PHR 10. If you say it's the same old story or it's the old story, you mean that something unpleasant or undesirable seems to happen again and again. It's the same old story. They want one person to do three people's jobs. PHRASE: v-link PHR 11. If you say that something is only part of the story or is not the whole story, you mean that the explanation or information given is not enough for a situation to be fully understood. This may be true but it is only part of the story... Jane goes to great lengths to explain that this is not the whole story. PHRASE: usu v-link PHR 12. If someone tells you their side of the story, they tell you why they behaved in a particular way and why they think they were right, when other people think that person behaved wrongly. He had already made up his mind before even hearing her side of the story. PHRASE: side inflects

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

sto-ri.

See COMMENTARY.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. History, chronicle, record. 2. Narration, narrative, recital, relation, rehearsal, account, statement, tale, record. 3. Fiction, fable, romance, novel. 4. Anecdote, incident, tale, legend. 5. (Colloq.) Falsehood, untruth, lie, fib, fabrication, invention, fiction, figment, fable, canard. 6. Floor, loft.

Moby Thesaurus

Clio, Muse of history, account, action, adventures, alibi, allegation, allegory, anagnorisis, anecdotage, anecdote, angle, annals, architectonics, architecture, argument, article, assertion, atmosphere, autobiography, back-fence gossip, background, band, beat, bed, bedding, belly laugh, belt, biographical sketch, biography, blague, blue story, book, budget of news, case history, catastrophe, characterization, chitchat, chronicle, chronicles, chronology, clerestory, cock-and-bull story, color, complication, confabulation, confessions, contention, continuity, contrivance, copy, couche, course, curriculum vitae, deck, denouement, description, design, detective story, development, device, diary, dirty joke, dirty story, dispatch, double entendre, entresol, epic, episode, epos, ethnic joke, exaggeration, exclusive, excuse, experiences, fable, fabliau, fabrication, facts, fairy, fairy tale, falling action, falsehood, falsity, farfetched story, farrago, feature, fib, fiction, first floor, fish story, flam, flat, flimflam, floor, folktale, fortunes, fun, funny story, gag, gallery, gest, ghost story, gimmick, good one, good story, gossip, gossiping, gossipmongering, gossipry, ground floor, groundless rumor, hagiography, hagiology, half-truth, historiography, history, howler, idle talk, incident, information, item, jape, jest, jestbook, joke, journal, laugh, layer, ledge, legal fiction, legend, level, lie, life, life and letters, life story, line, little white lie, local color, martyrology, measures, memoir, memoirs, memorabilia, memorial, memorials, mendacity, mezzanine, mezzanine floor, mood, motif, movement, mystery, myth, mythos, narration, narrative, necrology, news, news item, newsmongering, obituary, overlayer, overstory, panic, parable, peripeteia, photobiography, piece, piece of gossip, pious fiction, plan, play, plot, point, prevarication, profile, recital, recognition, record, recounting, release, report, representation, resume, rez-de-chaussee, rib tickler, riot, rising action, romance, saga, scenario, scheme, scoop, scream, seam, secondary plot, shelf, sick joke, sidesplitter, sight gag, slant, slight stretching, sport, spot news, stage, statement, step, stratum, street floor, structure, subject, subplot, substratum, summary, superstratum, switch, tale, talebearing, taletelling, talk, tall story, tall tale, taradiddle, tattle, testimony, thematic development, theme, theory of history, thickness, thriller, tidings, tier, tittle-tattle, tone, topic, topsoil, trumped-up story, twist, underlayer, understory, understratum, untruth, version, visual joke, wheeze, white lie, whodunit, wow, yarn, zone