spin (one) a yarn

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spin (one) a yarn

To tell a lie or only part of the truth in order to convince one of something or to avoid the consequences of something. Don't you dare spin me a yarn about being at the library. I want to know exactly where you were tonight. I suspect he's just spinning a yarn about where all that money came from.

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spin a yarn

Fig. to tell a tale. Grandpa spun an unbelievable yarn for us. My uncle is always spinning yarns about his childhood.

See also: spin, yarn

spin a yarn

Tell a story, especially a long drawn-out or totally fanciful one, as in This author really knows how to spin a yarn, or Whenever he's late he spins some yarn about a crisis. Originally a nautical term dating from about 1800, this expression probably owes its life to the fact that it embodies a double meaning, yarn signifying both "spun fiber" and "a tale."

See also: spin, yarn

spin a yarn

tell a story, especially a long and complicated one.

A yarn is one of the long fibres from which a rope is made. The expression is nautical in origin and has been used in this figurative sense since the early 19th century.

See also: spin, yarn

spin (somebody) a ˈyarn/ˈtale

tell somebody a story, usually a long one, which is often not true: She came an hour late and spun him a yarn about her car breaking down.Sailors used to spin yarns (= long threads) to make ropes. They were also famous for telling unlikely stories of their adventures, which is perhaps the origin of the idiom.