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Glite Dictionary
yarn-spinning

yarn-spinning

7.7
Tends to tell long, exciting stories about unlikely events
  • adjective
  • /jɑrnˈspɪnɪŋ/
  • Informal
translation icon : narrador de historias
  • My grandfather is a wonderful storyteller; he always captivates us with his yarn-spinning tales of adventure.

Examples

  • Everyone listened in awe as the yarn-spinning bard recounted legendary feats of heroes from the past.

  • By Sail's classic Newport-style schooner yacht known as Shearwater has more great stories to tell than your favorite yarn-spinning grandfather.

    Blog text (26)

  • The campfire was surrounded by friends eager to hear his yarn-spinning about his travels in distant lands.

Synonyms

narrative
vsyarn-spinning
50 4.6

About telling a story in speech or writing

focuses on long, elaborate accounts often with unbelievable details
narrational
vsyarn-spinning
  • Literature
6.8

Relating to the way a story is told

emphasizes long, elaborate accounts rather than process or style
storytelling
vsyarn-spinning
3.5

A way of telling a story that keeps people interested

leans toward long, elaborate accounts filled with incredible details

How Imaginative

yarn-spinning
  • Informal
7.7
storytelling
98 2.9
recounting
3 3.8
reporting
  • Literature
241 2.5

Surface Forms

yarn-spinning positive

Morphology

yarn-spinning = yarn + spin (semi-transparent) = yarn + spin + ing

The compound is analyzable as 'yarn' + 'spin' + '-ing', but the meaning ('telling long, fanciful stories') relies on an idiomatic/metaphorical use ('spin a yarn') that not all learners will infer from the literal components.

Etymology

Yarn-spinning comes from the words yarn ('thread') and spin ('to twist'), because sailors and other workers would spin thread while they talked and told long stories as they worked. That's why yarn-spinning means tending to tell long, imaginative stories.