cock-and-bull story
Tall tale nonsense
A cock-and-bull story is a far-fetched, implausible tale—the kind someone tells when making excuses or trying to deceive: He gave me some cock-and-bull story about his car breaking down.
The phrase suggests elaborate nonsense that the listener shouldn't believe.
- tall taleWildly exaggerated story
- canardUnfounded malicious rumor
- mare's nestIllusory discovery or jumble
- chimeraUnrealistic fantasy or hybrid
- delusionStubbornly held false belief
fabrication · pack of lies · hoax · song and dance · whopper · yarn · pretense · rigmarole · fable · falsehood · stretch the truth · absurdity · unbelievable · hard to swallow · exaggeration · fib · myth · sham
truthfulness/credibility
cock-and-bull storytruth
Accordance with reality
gospel truth · true story · fact · verified account · the facts
cock, bull, story, cocks, bulls, stories, storied, bullish, cockerel