story

Noun

story (plural stories)

1. An account of real or fictional events.
   • The book tells the story of two roommates.
   • ...it must be exploded for fabulous, with other relics of ancient story...1673, William Temple, An Essay upon the Advancement of Trade in Ireland

   Synonyms:

   tome

2. A lie, fiction.
   • You’ve been telling stories again, haven’t you?

   Synonyms:

   alternative fact, anti-fact, invention, bluff, bollocks, bullshit, canard, cap, chin, clanker

3. (US, colloquial, usually pluralized) A soap opera.
   • What will she do without being able to watch her stories?
   • He stood on the doorstep for a minute, listening for sounds inside the house — a radio, a TV tuned to one of the stories […]1991, Stephen King, Needful Things

   Synonyms:

   serial

4. (obsolete) History.
   • […] who is so unread or so uncatechis'd in story, that hath not heard of many sects refusing books as a hindrance, and preserving their doctrine unmixt for many ages, only by unwritt'n traditions.1644, John Milton, Areopagitica; a Speech of Mr. John Milton for the Liberty of Unlicenc’d Printing, to the Parlament of England, London: [s.n.], →OCLC
5. A sequence of events, or a situation, such as might be related in an account.
   • What's the story with him?
   • I tried it again; same story, no error message, nothing happened.

   Synonyms:

   narrative

6. (capitalized, sometimes, social media) A chronological collection of pictures or short videos published by a user on an application or website that is typically only available for a short period.
   • Worshippers in Mecca are streaming their stories live on Snapchat, opening up the Saudi city to non-Muslims online.2015 July 14, Aisha Gani, “Mecca worshippers stream their stories live on Snapchat”, in The Guardian
   • People can make stories public or private, and can choose if they want only a subsection of their followers to view them.2016 August 2, Mike Isaac, “Instagram Takes a Page From Snapchat, and Takes Aim at It, Too”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   Synonyms:

   my day

Verb

story (third-person singular simple present stories, present participle storying, simple past and past participle storied)

1. (transitive) To tell as a story; to relate or narrate about.
   • How worthy he is I will leave to appear hereafter, rather than story him in his own hearing.1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
   • It is storied of the brazen colossus in Rhodes, that it was seventy cubits high.1648, John Wilkins, Mathematicall Magick. Or, The Wonders that may be Performed by Mechanicall Geometry. […], London: […] M[iles] F[lesher] for Sa[muel] Gellibrand […], →OCLC
2. (ambitransitive, capitalized, sometimes, social media) To post a story (chronological collection of pictures or short videos) on an application or website.
   • But Portman, quite self-deprecating about her social-media savvy, says she . . . isn’t quite fully at ease yet with the world of double-taps and geotags and storying.2018 February 12, Josh Duboff, “Reese Witherspoon Is Natalie Portman’s Instagram Guru”, in Vanity Fair
   • I hereby argue that the only thing that would make these mini Friends reunions truly complete would be contributions from Aniston herself, who decidedly does not have an Instagram page. Imagine the content possibilities: Aniston looking flawless and chic by the pool; Aniston Storying herself...2019 June 24, Christian Allaire, “Jennifer Aniston, We Beg You, Get on Instagram”, in Vogue

Interjection

1. (Ireland, idiomatic, Dublin) Used as a greeting, short for what's the story?
   • *Any non-Irish person should be aware that it is not necessary to take the question literally i.e. one shouldn't start to explain your life story when greeted with 'What's the story?' rather they should respond in kind e.g. Greeting: 'What's the story?' Response: 'What's the story?' There are...2012, Colin Murphy, Donal O'Dea, “18 - Saying 'What's the story?'”, in More Stuff Irish People Love, 2017 edition, The O'Brien Press Ltd, →ISBN

Proper noun capitalized: Story

Story

1. A surname.
2. An unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Arkansas, United States.
3. An unincorporated community in Van Buren Township, Brown County, Indiana.
4. A ghost town in St. Clair County, Missouri.
5. An unincorporated community in Sioux County, Nebraska.
6. A census-designated place in Sheridan County, Wyoming.