1a fictitious or true narrative or story, especially one that is imaginatively recounted:a delightful children’s taletales of witches and warlocksshe enjoyed hearing others tell their tales
a lie.
2 archaic a number or total:an exact tale of the dead bodies
a tale of a tub
archaic an apocryphal story.
tell tales
gossip about or reveal another person’s secrets or wrongdoings:she sparked a family row after telling tales about her mother on a TV show
