Definition of "fable" [fa•ble]

• A usually short narrative making an edifying or cautionary point and often employing as characters animals that speak and act like humans. (noun)
• A story about legendary persons and exploits. (noun)
• A falsehood; a lie. (noun)
• To recount as if true. (verb-transitive)
• Archaic To compose fables. (verb-intransitive)
• A short moral story, esp one with animals as characters (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• A false, fictitious, or improbable account; fiction or lie (noun)
• A story or legend about supernatural or mythical characters or events (noun)
• Legends or myths collectively (noun)
• The plot of a play or of an epic or dramatic poem (noun)
• To relate or tell (fables) (verb)
• To speak untruthfully; tell lies (verb)
• To talk about or describe in the manner of a fable (verb)

www.Collinsdictionary.com (c) HarperCollins Publishers Ltd 2016

• "[Footnote: For an explanation of the term fable, see page 236.] 1."
• "While I think the book has an intriguing premise, calling it a fable is a stretch."
• "Othellos, the Don Juans that illustrate to us that the fable is a game of chess played over and over again, a thousand times with whatever pieces destiny throws up at any given time."