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# fib

«fib» in Mova's school dictionary: **a small lie, usually about something not very important** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a fib, fibs); verb (fib, fibs, fibbed, fibbing)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (informal) A fib is a small lie, usually about something not very important. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fib/#m1)

2) (informal) To fib means to tell a small lie. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fib/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday talk with children: "Are you telling fibs?" In stories a character tells a fib to get out of trouble and it grows. Phrases: tell a fib, a little fib, fib about.

### examples

- Don't tell fibs! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fib/#x1)
- He fibbed about brushing his teeth. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fib/#x2)
- It was just a little fib to keep the party a surprise. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fib/#x3)
- I knew she was fibbing because she giggled. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fib/#x4)
- One fib led to another and another. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fib/#x5)
- Tell the truth — no fibbing. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fib/#x6)

### note

Informal, softer word for lie. Past: fibbed (double b). A person who fibs is a fibber. A fib is still a lie, even if it is small.

### In the corpora

- [Gently he asks why he told such a fib, since his stamping would not bend a blade of grass.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/96-justso-butterfly-1-the-boast/11/)
- [What made you tell that awful fib to your wife?»](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/96-justso-butterfly-1-the-boast/26/)
- ["Vivid imagination" on a report can mean the pupil tells fibs or daydreams.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/17-school-and-pets/11/)
- [A "fib" is a small lie.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/euphemisms/28-stealing-and-lying/15/)
- [By Friday she's exhausted: one fib needs another fib, and another.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/489-hiding-it-from-friends-being-skint-at-school/2/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «fib» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/F/fib/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.