sto·ry¹ / ˈstôrē/ • n. (pl. -ries) 1. an account of imaginary or real people and events told for entertainment: an adventure story I'm going to tell you a story. ∎  a plot or story line: the novel has a good story. ∎  a report of an item of news in a newspaper, magazine, or news broadcast: stories in the local papers. ∎  a piece of gossip; a rumor: there have been lots of stories going around, as you can imagine. ∎ inf. a false statement or explanation; a lie: Ellie never told stories—she had always believed in the truth.2. an account of past events in someone's life or in the evolution of something: the story of modern farming the film is based on a true story. ∎  a particular person's representation of the facts of a matter, esp. as given in self-defense: during police interviews, Harper changed his story. ∎  [in sing.] a situation viewed in terms of the information known about it or its similarity to another: having such information is useful, but it is not the whole story | many children with leukemia now survive—twenty years ago it was a very different story.PHRASES: but that's another story inf. used after raising a matter to indicate that one does not want to expand on it for now.end of story inf. used to emphasize that there is nothing to add on a matter just mentioned: Men don't cry in public. End of story.it's a long story inf. used to indicate that, for now, one does not want to talk about something that is too involved or painful.it's (or that's) the story of one's life inf. used to lament the fact that a particular misfortune has happened too often in one's experience: “It's the story of my life,” my mother would say when she returned home from a sale empty-handed.the same old story used to indicate that a particular bad situation is tediously familiar: are we not faced with the same old story of a badly managed project?the story goes it is said or rumored: the story goes that he's fallen out with his friends.to make (or Brit. cut) a long story short used to end an account of events quickly: to make a long story short, I married Stephen.sto·ry² (Brit. also sto·rey) • n. a part of a building comprising all the rooms that are on the same level: [in comb.] a three-story building. DERIVATIVES: sto·ried (Brit. also sto·reyed) adj. [in comb.] four-storied houses.

story but that's another story used after raising a matter to indicate that one does not want to expand on it for now.
one story is good till another is told proverbial saying, late 16th century; meaning that doubt may be cast on an apparently convincing account by a second told from a different angle.

See also cock and bull story, every picture tells a story.

story1 †historical relation or anecdote, historical writing XIII; recital of events XIV; narrative designed for entertainment, tale XIV; account XVII. Aphetic — AN. estorie (OF. estoire, mod. histoire) — L. historia HISTORY.

story2 see STOREY.