One of the mysteries of the English language finally explained.
noun
1‘Len's loyalty to his mates had made him tell lies’
untruth, falsehood, fib, fabrication, deception, made-up story, trumped-up story, fake news, invention, piece of fiction, fiction, falsification, falsity, fairy story, fairy tale, cock and bull story, barefaced lie
white lie, little white lie, half-truth, exaggeration, prevarication, departure from the truth, alternative fact
yarn, story, red herring, fable, myth, flight of fancy, figment of the imagination
pretence, pretext, sham
misinformation, disinformation, perjury, dissimulation, mendacity, gossip, propaganda
informal tall story, tall tale, whopper
British informal porky, pork pie, porky pie
humorous terminological inexactitude
vulgar slang bullshit
NZ Australian vulgar slang bulldust
truth, fact
verb
1‘he had lied to the police as to his whereabouts’
say something untrue, tell an untruth, tell a lie, tell a falsehood, fib, fabricate, invent a story, make up a story, falsify, dissemble, dissimulate, bear false witness
tell a white lie, prevaricate, exaggerate, stretch the truth
perjure oneself, commit perjury, forswear oneself, be forsworn
bluff, pretend, depart from the truth
deceive, delude, mislead, trick, hoodwink, hoax, take in, lead astray, throw off the scent, send on a wild goose chase, put on the wrong track, pull the wool over someone's eyes
informal lie through one's teeth, con
humorous be economical with the truth, tell a terminological inexactitude
vulgar slang bullshit
tell the truth
verb
1‘he was lying on a bed’
recline, lie down, lie back, be recumbent, be prostrate, be supine, be prone, be stretched out, stretch oneself out, lean back, sprawl, rest, repose, relax, lounge, loll, bask
stand
2‘her handbag lay on a chair at the other end of the room’
be placed, be set, be situated, be positioned, rest, repose, be
3‘the tiny principality which lies on the border of Switzerland and Austria’
be situated, be located, be placed, be positioned, be found, be sited, be established, be
4‘his body lies in a crypt below our headquarters’
be buried, be interred, be laid to rest, rest, be entombed
rare be inhumed, be sepulchred
5‘the difficulty lies in building real quality into the products’
consist, be inherent, inhere, be present, be contained, exist, reside, have its being, have its existence
Phrases
‘the success of our manufactured exports gives the lie to the Opposition's portrayal of manufacturing’
disprove, contradict, negate, deny, refute, rebut, gainsay, belie, invalidate, prove to be false, show to be false, explode, discredit, debunk, quash, knock the bottom out of, drive a coach and horses through
challenge, call into question
shoot full of holes, shoot down, shoot down in flames
controvert, confute, negative
show to be true, verify, confirm
‘it was the loss of human life that lay heavy on him’
trouble, worry, bother, torment, oppress, nag, prey on one's mind, plague, niggle at, gnaw at, haunt
be a burden to, burden, press down on, weigh down, be a great weight on, weigh heavily on someone's mind, cause anxiety to
bug, aggravate
‘we'll have to lie low and wait for dark’
hide, go into hiding, hide out, find a hiding place, conceal oneself, keep out of sight, keep a low profile, take cover, go to earth, go to ground, go underground, cover one's tracks, lurk, skulk
hole up
lie doggo