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Nov 30, 2009
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fa•ble



Pronunciation: (fā'bul), [key]
—n., v., -bled, -bling.

—n.
1. a short tale to teach a moral lesson, often with animals or inanimate objects as characters; apologue: the fable of the tortoise and the hare; Aesop's fables.
2. a story not founded on fact: This biography is largely a self-laudatory fable.
3. a story about supernatural or extraordinary persons or incidents; legend: the fables of gods and heroes.
4. legends or myths collectively: the heroes of Greek fable.
5. an untruth; falsehood: This boast of a cure is a medical fable.
6. the plot of an epic, a dramatic poem, or a play.
7. idle talk: old wives' fables.

—v.i.
1. to tell or write fables.
2. to speak falsely; lie: to fable about one's past.

—v.t.
to describe as if actually so; talk about as if true: She is fabled to be the natural daughter of a king.

Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.

Fabius Maximusfabled
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