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Meanings of tall tale in English

A retelling or account of events, especially a fictional or exaggerated one.

Synonyms
Examples for "yarn"
Examples for "yarn"
1
Dry the pieces in the drum, and the yarn in the stove.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 286, June 25, 1881
2
Their yarn has become a hot item in recent years, she said.
Reuters
3
Xinjiang cotton and yarn are also used in textiles and home furnishings.
The Guardian
4
The company has supplied carbon yarn for Ferrari's sports cars, Yamagata said.
Reuters
5
Of course, this makes for a very tangled yarn, but that's fine.
The Guardian
1
Roisin was at pains to point out that Miriam was not telling a tall story.
The Irish Times
2
But yesterday Court 14 saw Wimbledon's tall story get even taller as Ivo Karlovic continued swashbuckling.
The Guardian
3
That's a pretty tall story, I think, Garwood.
The New Boy at Hilltop, and Other Stories
4
Between the wolf in the tall grass and the wolf in the tall story, there is a shimmering go-between.
The Civilization of Illiteracy
5
This may seem like a tall story, but there was once a teenage girl who didn't get along with her parents.
Stories from the Old Attic
Usage of tall tale in English
1
So why do we need to embellish, to build a tall tale?
Ebony
2
Given the tensions of the times, this tall tale was, on occasion, believed.
The Irish Times
3
Many say it's a harmless and fun tall tale worth celebrating.
Reuters
4
The mischievous Michael Gambon has been known to spin the odd tall tale.
The Irish Times
5
The tardy must make do with a substitute and invent another tall tale.
The Irish Times
6
That's a fantasy, a tall tale, and a heresy at that!
The Hyperion Cantos
7
That's a tall tale you're spinning, and I don't believe it for a second.
Clementine
8
But what I do not believe is your tall tale about a buried treasure.
The hangman's daughter
9
The photoshopped memes of a bygone era: tall tale postcards.
The Irish Times
10
Ziegler draws gingerly upon this source, always aware of Sitwell's love of a tall tale.
The new yorker
11
Charlie Sumners thought the whole thing was a fabrication on Meyer's part, just another tall tale.
Big bosoms and square jaws
12
I didn't think any less of you for telling me a bit of a tall tale.
The Wise Man’s Fear
13
And now a tall tale from Wellington Zoo.
Radio NZ
14
To tell you the truth, Pendergast, I'd rather suspected it of being just another Holmesian tall tale.
White fire
15
His tall tale was entirely made up.
Rock and Ice Magazine
16
It sounds a fairly tall tale, but we've heard taller from chaps who were at the front.
The Happy Adventurers
This collocation consists of:
Tall tale through the time
Tall tale across language varieties
United States of America
Common