Noun

(stories)

A sequence of real or fictional events; or, an account of such a sequence.

* Ed. Rev.

Venice, with its unique city and its impressive story

* Sir W. Temple

The four great monarchies make the subject of ancient story .

*

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=The stories did not seem to me to touch life. They were plainly intended to have a bracing moral effect, and perhaps had this result for the people at whom they were aimed. They left me with the impression of a well-delivered stereopticon lecture, with characters about as life-like as the shadows on the screen, and whisking on and off, at the mercy of the operator.}}

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Travels and travails , passage=Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.}}

A lie.

(chiefly, US) A floor or level of a building; a storey.

* 1900 , , (The House Behind the Cedars) , chapter I:

The lower story of the market-house was open on all four of its sides to the public square.

(US, colloquial, usually pluralized) A soap opera.

(obsolete) History.

* 1644 , (John Milton), (Aeropagitica) :

who is so unread or so uncatechis'd in story , that hath not heard of many sects refusing books as a hindrance, and preserving their doctrine unmixt for many ages, only by unwritt'n traditions.

A sequence of events, or a situation, such as might be related in an account.

Noun

(en noun)

Something that is representative of all such things in a group.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-26, author=(Leo Hickman)

, volume=189, issue=7, page=26, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= How algorithms rule the world , passage=The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives. And, as their ubiquity spreads, so too does the debate around whether we should allow ourselves to become so reliant on them – and who, if anyone, is policing their use.}}

Something that serves to illustrate or explain a rule.

* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= David Van Tassel], [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/lee-dehaan Lee DeHaan

, title= Wild Plants to the Rescue , volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Plant breeding is always a numbers game.

Something that serves as a pattern of behaviour to be imitated (a good example) or not to be imitated (a bad example).

* Bible, (w) xiii, 15

For I have given you an example , that ye should do as I have done to you.

* (John Milton)

I gave, thou sayest, the example ; I led the way.

* 1818 , (Mary Shelley), :

Learn from me, if not by my precepts, then at least by my example, how dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge,

*

, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4 , passage=The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on an afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track.

A person punished as a warning to others.

* (William Shakespeare)

Hang him; he'll be made an example .

* Bible, x, 6

Now these things were our examples , to the intent that we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

A parallel or closely similar case, especially when serving as a precedent or model.

* (William Shakespeare)

Such temperate order in so fierce a cause / Doth want example .

An instance (as a problem to be solved) serving to illustrate the rule or precept or to act as an exercise in the application of the rule.