fib


Also found in: Thesaurus, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

fib

a small or trivial lie; minor falsehood: He meant no harm; it was only a fib.
Not to be confused with:
fabrication – manufacture; something fabricated; an untruthful statement: His alibi was a total fabrication.
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

fib

 (fĭb)
n.
An insignificant or childish lie.
intr.v. fibbed, fib·bing, fibs
To tell a fib. See Synonyms at lie2.

[Perhaps from obsolete and dialectal fible-fable, nonsense, reduplication of fable.]

fib′ber n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

fib

(fɪb)
n
a trivial and harmless lie
vb, fibs, fibbing or fibbed
(intr) to tell such a lie
[C17: perhaps from fibble-fable an unlikely story; see fable]
ˈfibber n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

fib

(fɪb)

n., v. fibbed, fib•bing. n.
1. a small or trivial lie.
v.i.
2. to tell a fib.
[1560–70; fibble-fable nonsense]
fib′ber, fib′ster, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

fib


Past participle: fibbed
Gerund: fibbing

Imperative
fib
fib
Present
I fib
you fib
he/she/it fibs
we fib
you fib
they fib
Preterite
I fibbed
you fibbed
he/she/it fibbed
we fibbed
you fibbed
they fibbed
Present Continuous
I am fibbing
you are fibbing
he/she/it is fibbing
we are fibbing
you are fibbing
they are fibbing
Present Perfect
I have fibbed
you have fibbed
he/she/it has fibbed
we have fibbed
you have fibbed
they have fibbed
Past Continuous
I was fibbing
you were fibbing
he/she/it was fibbing
we were fibbing
you were fibbing
they were fibbing
Past Perfect
I had fibbed
you had fibbed
he/she/it had fibbed
we had fibbed
you had fibbed
they had fibbed
Future
I will fib
you will fib
he/she/it will fib
we will fib
you will fib
they will fib
Future Perfect
I will have fibbed
you will have fibbed
he/she/it will have fibbed
we will have fibbed
you will have fibbed
they will have fibbed
Future Continuous
I will be fibbing
you will be fibbing
he/she/it will be fibbing
we will be fibbing
you will be fibbing
they will be fibbing
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been fibbing
you have been fibbing
he/she/it has been fibbing
we have been fibbing
you have been fibbing
they have been fibbing
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been fibbing
you will have been fibbing
he/she/it will have been fibbing
we will have been fibbing
you will have been fibbing
they will have been fibbing
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been fibbing
you had been fibbing
he/she/it had been fibbing
we had been fibbing
you had been fibbing
they had been fibbing
Conditional
I would fib
you would fib
he/she/it would fib
we would fib
you would fib
they would fib
Past Conditional
I would have fibbed
you would have fibbed
he/she/it would have fibbed
we would have fibbed
you would have fibbed
they would have fibbed
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.fib - a trivial lie; "he told a fib about eating his spinach"; "how can I stop my child from telling stories?"
lie, prevarication - a statement that deviates from or perverts the truth
cock-and-bull story, fairy story, fairy tale, fairytale, song and dance - an interesting but highly implausible story; often told as an excuse
Verb1.fib - tell a relatively insignificant lie; "Fibbing is not acceptable, even if you don't call it lying"
lie - tell an untruth; pretend with intent to deceive; "Don't lie to your parents"; "She lied when she told me she was only 29"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

fib

noun
1. lie, story, fiction, untruth, whopper (informal), porky (Brit. slang), pork pie (Brit. slang), white lie, prevarication She told innocent fibs.
verb
1. lie, invent, fabricate, misrepresent, falsify, tell a lie, prevaricate, perjure, equivocate, dissimulate, tell untruths, forswear yourself He laughed when I accused him of fibbing.
Quotations
"fib: a lie that has not cut its teeth" [Ambrose Bierce The Devil's Dictionary]
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

fib

nounverb
To make untrue declarations:
Law: perjure.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
كِذْبَه بَسيطَهيَكْذِب
bulíklhátmalá lež
fortælle en hvid løgnhvid løgnnødløgn
füllentfüllentés
segja ósattskrök, lygi
prasimanyti
melimelotmelst niekusniekisīkimeli
mentirinha
drobna lažsprenevedati se
zararsız yalanzararsız yalan söylemek

fib

[fɪb]
A. Nmentirijilla f
to tell a fibdecir una mentirijilla
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

fib

[ˈfɪb]
n (= lie) → bobard m
to tell fibs → raconter des bobards
vi (= lie) → raconter des bobards
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

fib

(inf)
nFlunkerei f (inf), → Schwindelei f (inf); that’s a fib!das ist geflunkert! (inf); don’t tell fibsflunker or schwindel nicht! (inf)
viflunkern (inf), → schwindeln (inf)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

fib

[fɪb] (fam)
1. nbugia, frottola
to tell a fib → dire una bugia
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

fib

(fib) noun
an unimportant lie. to tell fibs.
verbpast tense, past participle fibbed
to tell a fib. He fibbed about his age.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
Those who will tell one fib, will hardly stick at another.
A fib is one of the commonest things in the world, and yet it is scarcely respectable."
'Is it anger at poor me for telling such a fib? Well, I only "tell the tale as 'twas told to me:" I don't vouch for the truth of it; but at the same time, I don't see what reason Sarah should have for deceiving me, or her informant for deceiving her; and that was what she told me the footman told her:- that Mrs.
"That's a fib!" cried Jo, taking her by the shoulders, and looking fierce enough to frighten a much braver child than Amy.
"I wonder you've the face to tell me such fibs!" cried the Gardener.
To which Bruno wisely replied "Oo don't want a face to tell fibs wiz--only a mouf."
It would, perhaps, have been a longer- headed device, if he had never told any of those clever fibs about his uncles, grand and otherwise; for the Palfreys were simple people, and shared the popular prejudice against lying.
Now Fred piqued himself on keeping clear of lies, and even fibs; he often shrugged his shoulders and made a significant grimace at what he called Rosamond's fibs (it is only brothers who can associate such ideas with a lovely girl); and rather than incur the accusation of falsehood he would even incur some trouble and self-restraint.
Jos growled from under the counterpane to know what the time was; but when he at last extorted from the blushing Major (who never told fibs, however they might be to his advantage) what was the real hour of the morning, he broke out into a volley of bad language, which we will not repeat here, but by which he gave Dobbin to understand that he would jeopardy his soul if he got up at that moment, that the Major might go and be hanged, that he would not travel with Dobbin, and that it was most unkind and ungentlemanlike to disturb a man out of his sleep in that way; on which the discomfited Major was obliged to retreat, leaving Jos to resume his interrupted slumbers.
You have learnt to talk nonsense seriously, and you have got into a way of telling fibs for the pleasure of telling them.
They go to the circus together where Doug-Dennis eats Ben-Bobby's popcorn, but then tells a fib saying he didn't eat it.
In his previous role at FIB, Mr Khalifa looked after corporate finance and structuring, asset management, treasury, financial institutions and debt capital markets.