draw the long bow

verb

To exaggerate; to tell tall tales.

Similar
draw a long bowpull the long bowthrow the hatchet
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Meanings

verbdraw the long bow (third-person singular simple present draws the long bow, present participle drawing the long bow, simple past drew the long bow, past participle drawn the long bow)

present singular third person draws the long bow · participle present drawing the long bow · past drew the long bow · participle past drawn the long bow

  1. idiomaticTo exaggerate; to tell tall tales.

    […] Dublin residents, like those jarvies waiting news from abroad, would tempt any ancient mariner who sailed the ocean seas to draw the long bow about the schooner Hesperus and etcetera.

    1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 1: Telemachus]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part I [Telemachia], page 16

    Synonyms: draw a long bow, pull the long bow, throw the hatchet

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo exaggerate; to tell tall tales.

Similar
draw a long bowpull the long bowthrow the hatchet
Also see
pull the long bowthrow the hatchet
Cite this entry
APA

draw the long bow. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/draw%20the%20long%20bow

MLA

“draw the long bow.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/draw%20the%20long%20bow. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “draw the long bow,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/draw%20the%20long%20bow.

Source: draw the long bow on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.