From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfablefa‧ble /ˈfeɪbəl/ noun 1 STORY[countable] a traditional short story that teaches a moral lesson, especially a story about animals the fable of the fox and the crow► see thesaurus at story2 [uncountable]STORY fables or other traditional stories monsters of fable
Examples from the Corpus
fable• This is just a fable to frighten the children with a bit of free preaching thrown in.• And Notes from Underground is precisely such a fable of disembodied consciousness.• The result is a dark, intoxicating fable about the limits of imagination and the power of memory.• You made it a kind of fable.• monsters of fable and legend• The best-known of Aesop's fables is "The Tortoise and the Hare'.• In several fables the kelpie appears as a handsome young prince, who lures maidens to a watery fate worse than death.• My favorite is the fable of the race between the tortoise and the hare.• The life of Howard Hughes cannot fail to remind us of the fable of Midas.Origin fable (1200-1300) Old French Latin fabula “conversation, story” 