to spin a story
1
4.8
- phrasal verb
:
contar una historia
- So we're going to spin a story, OK, to the middle class to say Jared should start young.
Examples
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Combine budget reconciliation with the fact that any 2013 Democratic Senate majority would rest on the backs of senators from red states like West Virginia, South Dakota, and North Carolina, and it becomes easy to spin a story in which a handful of Democratic defectors would create the legislative majority.
Blog text (26) -
It'd be just as easy to spin a story of blame on Chaffetz... or hell, Bush.
Blog text (34) -
They may just be spinning a story to discredit Obamacare.
Blog text (15) -
By now, this story is in the hands of Zipps PR people, and they will spin a story of the rogue manager and make a public display of mea culpa and promise to institute new training... blah blah blah...
Blog text (33) -
At the party, she managed to spin a story about her adventurous travels that had everyone captivated.
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He could easily spin a story that made even the most mundane events sound exciting and adventurous.
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When asked about the missed deadline, she quickly spun a story about technical difficulties to explain the delay.
Synonyms
972
3.2
Invent a story or excuse that is not true
84
1.1
To describe things that happened, real or made up, to other people
73
1.4
Talk about events, real or imagined, to other people
59
4.0
To tell a story, usually by speaking or writing
46
6.0
Make up a story or excuse to trick people
37
5.6
Invent a story or excuse to trick people
5
6.5
Tell real events or people as made-up stories by changing details
3
5.5
To add extra details to a story that often make it less true
3
3.5
Say a story about something that happened or show signs of it
1
6.8
To tell a long made-up or exaggerated story
1
6.7
To tell a long story that is probably not true
To tell a story in a way that makes what happened sound bigger or not true
To invent a story or excuse that is not true
To tell someone a false story to impress or trick them
Antonyms
How Inventive
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to invent or relate a story' is directly derivable from combining 'spin' (used metaphorically here to craft or present information) with 'story' (a narrative). This verb+noun composition follows a common pattern and the metaphorical sense of 'spin' to 'shape/tell' a tale is cross-linguistically familiar, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the meaning.
Etymology
Spin a story may come from the image of someone turning wool on a wheel to make thread and then weaving it into cloth. Like turning thread into cloth, to spin a story means to twist small ideas into a whole, often exaggerated tale, so it now means 'invent or tell an exaggerated story'.