tell a story

tell a story (third-person singular simple present tells a story, present participle telling a story, simple past and past participle told a story)

1. (literally, ambitransitive) To communicate a story in some way.
2. (figuratively, intransitive, poetic) To display qualities which hint at or convey a past or history which is not explicitly told.

   Every person's eyes tell their own story.

   The bullet holes in the walls of these buildings tell a story of a more tumultuous time...

3. To lie; to tell a lie
   • 1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:

     Jem gulped like a goldfish, hunched his shoulders and twitched his torso. “He’s goin‘ like that, only not like he means to.”
     “Are you telling me a story, Jem Finch?” Calpurnia’s voice hardened.
     “No Cal, I swear I’m not.”