Definition of Cock-and-bull story

1. Noun. An interesting but highly implausible story; often told as an excuse.


Definition of Cock-and-bull story

1. Noun. (idiomatic) A far-fetched and fanciful story or tale of highly dubious validity ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Cock-and-bull Story

cochromite
cocillana
cocinera
cocineras
cocirculating
cocitation
cocitations
cock's comb test
cock's eggs
cock-a-doodle-doo
cock-a-doodle-doos
cock-a-hoop
cock-a-leekie
cock-and-bull stories
cock-and-bull story (current term)
cock-cheese
cock-eyed
cock-fighting
cock-horse
cock-horses
cock-of-the-rock
cock-padle
cock-padles
cock-robin
cock-robins
cock-sparrow
cock-sparrows
cock-stand
cock-stands

Literary usage of Cock-and-bull story

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Crime Against Kansas: The Apologies for the Crime. The True Remedy by Charles Sumner (1856)
"The whole tale, with the mode of obtaining the copy of the constitution, is at once a cock-and-bull story and a mare's nest ; trivial as the former, ..."

2. Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present: A Dictionary, Historical and by John Stephen Farmer, William Ernest Henley (1891)
"That sounds like a cock-and-bull story, said the young fellow whom they call John. ... Giving ear to a COCK- AND-BULL STORY that can't be true ! ..."

3. An American Glossary by Richard Hopwood Thornton (1912)
"1830 A terrible cock and bull story about their ship having been p. 195. 1836 Ho told a cock and bull story about his having come from taken by a pirate. ..."

4. Notes and Queries by Martim de Albuquerque (1857)
"Cock-and-Bull Story (lit S. ix. 209.) — As the origin of this expression appears to be left an open ... This comes very near to a “cock-and-bull story. ..."

5. Dictionary of Idiomatic English Phrases by James Main Dixon (1891)
"A cock-and-bull story—an absurd tale. P. Mrs. Hookham plainly declared that ... I did hear some cock-and-bull story the other day about the horses not ..."

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