1an account of imaginary or real people and events told for entertainment:an adventure storyI’m going to tell you a story
a plot or storyline:the novel has a good story
a piece of gossip; a rumour:there have been lots of stories going around, as you can imagine
informal a false statement; a lie:Ellie never told stories—she had always believed in the truth
2a report of an item of news in a newspaper, magazine, or broadcast:stories in the local papers
3an account of past events in someone’s life or in the development of something:the story of modern farmingthe film is based on a true story
a particular person’s representation of the facts of a matter:during police interviews, Harper changed his story
[in singular] a situation viewed in terms of the information known about it or its similarity to another:having such information is useful, but it is not the whole storyUnited kept on trying but it was the same old story—no luck
(the story) informal the facts about the present situation:What’s the story on this man? Is he from around here?
4the commercial prospects or circumstances of a particular company:the investors' flight to profitable businesses with solid stories
but that's another story
informal used after raising a matter to indicate that one does not want to expand on it for now.
informal used to indicate that, for now, one does not want to talk about something that is too painful or complicated.
it's (or that's) the story of one's life
informal used as a resigned acknowledgement that one has experienced a particular misfortune too often:‘He’s more likely to have run off with a dancer,’ Laura said bitterly. ‘It’s the story of my life.’
the story goes
it is said or rumoured:the story goes that he’s fallen out with his friends
to cut (or North Americanmake) a long story short
used to end an account of events quickly:to cut a long story short, I married Stephen
