tell a story

present singular third person tells a story · participle present telling a story · participle past told a story · past told a story

1. ambitransitiveliterallyTo communicate a story in some way.

   Here, at DFTO, I've been making sure I am leading the organisation properly before we start telling our story. You're the first person I'm telling that story to.

   2026 September 2, Alex Hynes speaks to Paul Clifton, “The RAIL Interview”, in RAIL, number 1069, page 33

2. figurativelyintransitivepoeticTo display qualities which hint at or convey a past or history which is not explicitly told.

   Every person's eyes tell their own story.

   1 more example

   The bullet holes in the walls of these buildings tell a story of a more tumultuous time...

3. To lie; to tell a lie

   Jem gulped like a goldfish, hunched his shoulders and twitched his torso. “He’s goin‘ like that, only not like he means to.” “Are you telling me a story, Jem Finch?” Calpurnia’s voice hardened. “No Cal, I swear I’m not.”

   1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC