Definitions for story
ˈstɔr i, ˈstoʊr isto·ry

Princeton's WordNet(3.88 / 8 votes)Rate this definition:

1. narrative, narration, story, talenoun

   a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program

   "his narrative was interesting"; "Disney's stories entertain adults as well as children"

2. storynoun

   a piece of fiction that narrates a chain of related events

   "he writes stories for the magazines"

3. floor, level, storey, storynoun

   a structure consisting of a room or set of rooms at a single position along a vertical scale

   "what level is the office on?"

4. history, account, chronicle, storynoun

   a record or narrative description of past events

   "a history of France"; "he gave an inaccurate account of the plot to kill the president"; "the story of exposure to lead"

5. report, news report, story, account, write upnoun

   a short account of the news

   "the report of his speech"; "the story was on the 11 o'clock news"; "the account of his speech that was given on the evening news made the governor furious"

6. fib, story, tale, tarradiddle, taradiddlenoun

   a trivial lie

   "he told a fib about eating his spinach"; "how can I stop my child from telling stories?"

Wiktionary(2.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. storynoun

   An account of real or fictional events.

   The book tells the story of two roommates.

2. storynoun

   A lie.

   You've been telling stories again, haven't you?

3. storynoun

   A floor or level of a building; a storey.

   Our shop was on the fourth story of the building, so we had to install an elevator.

4. storynoun

   A soap opera.

   What will she do without being able to watch her stories?

5. storynoun

   History.

6. storynoun

   A sequence of events, or a situation, such as might be related in an account.

7. Etymology: From estorie, from historia, from ἱστορία. Compare history and storey.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. STORYnoun

   Etymology: stœr , Saxon; storie, Dutch; storia, Italian; ἱστοϱία.

   1. History; account of things past.

   The fable of the dividing of the world between the three sons of Saturn, arose from the true story of the dividing of the earth between the three brethren the sons of Noah. Walter Raleigh.

   Thee I have heard relating what was done
   Ere my remembrance: now hear me relate
   My story which perhaps thou hast not heard. John Milton.

   To king Artaxerxes, thy servants Rathumnus the story-writer, and Smellius the scribe. 1 Esdr. ii. 17.

   The four great monarchies make the subject of ancient story, and are related by the Greek and Latin authors. William Temple.

   Governments that once made such a noise, as founded upon the deepest counsels and the strongest force; yet by some slight miscarriage which let in ruin upon them, are now so utterly extinct, that nothing remains of them but a name; nor are there the least traces of them to be found but only in story. Robert South, Sermons.

   2. Small tale; petty narrative; account of a single incident.

   In the road between Bern and Soleurre, a monument erected by the republick of Bern, tells us the story of an Englishman not to be met with in any of our own writers. Addison.

   3. An idle or trifling tale; a petty fiction.

   These flaws and starts, would well become
   A woman’s story at a winter’s fire,
   Authoris’d by her grandame. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

   This scene had some bold Greek or British bard
   Beheld of old, what stories had we heard
   Of fairies, satyrs, and the nymphs their dames,
   Their feasts, their revels, and their am’rous flames. John Denham.

   My maid left on the table one of her story-books, which I found full of strange impertinence, of poor servants who came to be ladies. Jonathan Swift.

   4. [ stor , place, Saxon.]A floor; a flight of rooms.

   Avoid enormous heights of seven stories, as well as irregular forms, and the contrary fault of low distended fronts. Henry Wotton.

   Sonnets or elegies to Chloris,
   Might raise a house about two stories;
   A lyrick ode wou’d slate; a catch
   Would tile; an epigram would thatch. Jonathan Swift.

2. To Storyverb

   Etymology: from the noun

   1. To tell in history; to relate.

   How worthy he is, I will leave to appear hereafter, rather than story him in his own hearing. William Shakespeare, Cymbeline.

   ’Tis not vain or fabulous
   What the sage poets, taught by th’ heav’nly muse,
   Story’d of old in high immortal verse,
   Of dire chimera’s and enchanted isles,
   And rifted rocks; whose entrance leads to hell. John Milton.

   It is storied of the brazen Colossus, in the island of Rhodes, that it was seventy cubits high; the thumbs of it being so big, that no man could grasp one of them about with both his arms. John Wilkins.

   Recite them, nor in erring pity fear,
   To wound with storied griefs the filial ear. Alexander Pope.

   2. To range one under another.

   Because all the parts of an undisturbed fluid are of equal gravity, or gradually placed or storied according to the difference of it; any concretion that can be supposed to be naturally and mechanically made in such a fluid, must have a like structure of its several parts; that is, either be all over of a similar gravity, or have the more ponderous parts nearer to its basis. Richard Bentley, Sermons.

Webster Dictionary(2.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Storyverb

   a set of rooms on the same floor or level; a floor, or the space between two floors. Also, a horizontal division of a building's exterior considered architecturally, which need not correspond exactly with the stories within

2. Storynoun

   a narration or recital of that which has occurred; a description of past events; a history; a statement; a record

3. Storynoun

   the relation of an incident or minor event; a short narrative; a tale; especially, a fictitious narrative less elaborate than a novel; a short romance

4. Storynoun

   a euphemism or child's word for "a lie;" a fib; as, to tell a story

5. Storyverb

   to tell in historical relation; to make the subject of a story; to narrate or describe in story

6. Etymology: [OF. estor, estore, built, erected, p. p. of estorer to build, restore, to store. See Store, v. t.]

Freebase(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Story

   Story was a magazine founded in 1931 by journalist-editor Whit Burnett and his first wife, Martha Foley, in Vienna, Austria. Showcasing short stories by new authors, 67 copies of the debut issue were mimeographed in Vienna, and two years later, Story moved to New York City where Burnett and Foley created The Story Press in 1936. By the late 1930s, the circulation of Story had climbed to 21,000 copies. Authors introduced in Story included Charles Bukowski, Erskine Caldwell, John Cheever, Junot Diaz, James T. Farrell, Joseph Heller, J. D. Salinger, Tennessee Williams and Richard Wright. Other authors in the pages of Story included Ludwig Bemelmans, Carson McCullers and William Saroyan. The magazine sponsored various awards, and it held an annual college fiction contest. Burnett's second wife, Hallie Southgate Burnett, began collaborating with him in 1942. During this period, Story published the early work of Truman Capote, John Knowles and Norman Mailer. Story was briefly published in book form during the early 1950s, returning to a magazine format in 1960. Due to a lack of funds, Story folded in 1967, but it maintained its reputation through the Story College Creative Awards, which Burnett directed from 1966 to 1971.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Story

   stō′ri, n. history or narrative of incidents in their sequence: an account, report, statement: an anecdote: the plot of a novel or drama: a lie, a fib, a fictitious narrative.—v.t. to tell or describe historically, to relate: to adorn with sculptured or painted scenes from history.—v.i. to relate.—adjs. Storiā′ted, decorated with elaborate ornamental designs; Stō′ried, told or celebrated in a story: having a history: interesting from the stories belonging to it: adorned with scenes from history.—ns. Storiol′ogist, one learned in the comparative study of folk-tales; Storiol′ogy, the scientific study of folk-tales; Stō′ry-book, a book of stories or tales true or fictitious; Stō′ry-tell′er, one who relates tales, a liar; Stō′ry-tell′ing, act of relating stories: lying. [A short form of history.]

2. Story

   Storey, stō′ri, n. a division of a house reached by one flight of stairs: a set of rooms on the same floor.—The upper story, the brain. [O. Fr. estoree—estorer—L. instaurāre, to build.]

Matched Categories

1. • Fiction
   • History
   • Lie
   • Message
   • News
   • Record
   • Structure

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'story' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #732

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'story' in Written Corpus Frequency: #847

3. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'story' in Nouns Frequency: #204

Anagrams for story »

1. ryots

2. tyros

3. stroy

4. sorty

How to pronounce story?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say story in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of story in Chaldean Numerology is: 8

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of story in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of story in a Sentence

1. Adam Mosseri:

   In no way do I mean to diminish these issues … Some of the issues mentioned in this story aren’t necessarily widespread, but their impact on people may be huge.

2. Ted Cruz:

   The local press all covered the substance of what I said, the reactions of what happened, national press, it was all about the little girl and me terrifying her. You can literally read the story side by side as if they're covering Mars and Venus.

3. Bill Hartman:

   I feel lucky to live in a city that has a population of people that really want to help us get answers so we can end this pandemic, i tell the volunteers all the time that someday in the future, they will be able to tell a story about how they helped save the world.

4. Renata Filippini:

   For optimal language development, controlling background noise is highly recommended, especially during specific learning moments, like during a story telling activity or during feeding times.

5. Mahtowin Munro:

   We go there every year, along with many nonindigenous allies, as well, to talk about the truth about Thanksgiving, we still have to retell the story because it's still not known well enough.

Popularity rank by frequency of use