short storyˌshort ˈstory noun [countable] 
Examples
ExamplesEXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
Thesaurus- F fable A short story in prose or verse which is written so that a moral may be learnt from it.
- Our last short story competition was so popular, we're running another one: see page 118.
Longman Language Activatora book about imaginary people and events► novel
a short written story about imaginary situations and characters a book about people and events that the writer has imagined: · The new Sidney Shelton novel is to be adapted for film later in the year.· This is the study where Hemingway wrote the legendary novels 'Death in the Afternoon' and 'For Whom the Bell Tolls'.novel by: · The movie is based on a novel by Anne Tyler.historical novel (=about people and events in the past): · Butler has also written several historical novels under the pen-name of Jenny Melville.romantic novel (=about love): · Johnston's nudes look like cover art for romantic novels.first/debut novel (=the first novel that someone writes): · Keller's debut novel is about a Korean woman who was sold into prostitution during World War II.
► fiction books about imaginary people and events: · His first novel won a prize for modern fiction.· I'm taking a class in Victorian fiction.romantic fiction (=about love): · This small band of women writers dominated the romantic fiction market for a number of years.historical fiction (=about people and events in the past): · Anthony's first books were historical fiction.crime/detective fiction: · Why is Miami such a ripe setting for crime fiction?· Chandler remains the greatest exponent of detective fiction.
► literature books, plays, and poems, especially famous and serious ones that people think are important: · the Nobel Prize for Literature· She is a professor of language and literature at Arizona State University.· Mitterrand's oratory and writings displayed a wide grasp of history, philosophy, religion and literature.French/Hispanic/Hebrew etc literature: · I teach Japanese literature.· She's studying European literature at the University of Illinois.
► science fiction also sci-fi informal stories about things that happen in the future or in other parts of the universe: · Science fiction is often wrongly regarded as a 'lesser' form of literature.· Joanne says she is not a fan of science fiction, and has never read her husband's book.· Such developments sound like science fiction, but they're not.
► whodunnit informal a book about an imaginary murder case, in which you do not find out who did the murder until the end: · If you enjoy a whodunnit, you'll lap up Janet Laurence's "Hotel Morgue".· an Agatha Christie whodunnit
► thriller an exciting story, for example about a crime or war, in which surprising events happen suddenly and you never know what will happen next: · They discovered a mutual love of mysteries and thrillers.political/psychological/spy etc thriller: · Stephen King's new psychological thriller· He has written a spy thriller that recalls Fleming's James Bond series.· His latest work is a legal thriller set in Boston.
► short story a short piece of writing in which the writer tells a story: · She started out writing short stories for the magazine 'Black Mask'.· I understand your novel was inspired by a short story by Katherine Mansfield.· a collection of American short stories
WORD SETS► Literatureacrostic, nounadapt, verballiteration, nounanagram, nounannual, nounanthology, nounantihero, nounapologia, nounappendix, nounassonance, nounauthorship, nounautobiography, nounballad, nounbard, nounbathos, nounbiography, nounblank verse, nounbowdlerize, verbburlesque, nouncaesura, nouncameo, nouncanon, nouncanto, nouncaricature, nounchapter, nouncharacterization, nouncitation, nounclimax, nounclimax, verbcoda, nouncollected, adjectiveconceit, nouncorpus, nouncouplet, nouncritique, noundactyl, noundeclamatory, adjectivedeconstruction, noundense, adjectivedevice, noundialogue, noundiarist, noundiction, noundigest, noundoggerel, noundraft, noundraft, verbdrama, noundub, nounelegy, nounending, nounepic, adjectiveepigram, nounepilogue, nounepistolary, adjectiveepitaph, nounessay, nounessayist, nouneulogy, nounexegesis, nounfable, nounfairy tale, nounfantasy, nounfiction, nounfictional, adjectivefirst edition, nounfirst person, nounflashback, nounflorid, adjectiveflowery, adjectivefolk, adjectiveforeword, nounformulaic, adjectivefree verse, nounghost story, nounGothic, adjectivegrandiloquent, adjectivehaiku, nounheroic, adjectiveheroic couplet, nounhexameter, nounhumorist, nounhyperbole, nouniamb, nouniambic pentameter, nounimage, nounimagery, nouninformal, adjectiveingénue, nouninstalment, nounirony, nounjournal, nounlay, nounlimerick, nounlit., literary, adjectiveliterature, nounlyric, adjectivelyric, nounlyrical, adjectivelyricism, nounman of letters, nounmanuscript, nounmetaphor, nounmetaphorical, adjectivemetre, nounmetrical, adjectivemonologue, nounnarrative, nounnarrator, nounnaturalism, nounnaturalistic, adjectivenom de plume, nounnovel, nounnovelist, nounnovella, nounnursery rhyme, nounode, nounonomatopoeia, nounpadding, nounpaean, nounparagraph, nounparaphrase, verbparaphrase, nounparenthetical, adjectivepassage, nounpathetic fallacy, nounpen name, nounpentameter, nounperiphrasis, nounperoration, nounpicaresque, adjectiveplaywright, nounplot, nounpoem, nounpoet, nounpoetess, nounpoetic, adjectivepoetic licence, nounpoet laureate, nounpoetry, nounpolemic, nounpolemical, adjectivepotboiler, nounprécis, nounpreface, nounprefatory, adjectiveprologue, nounprose, nounprosody, nounprotagonist, nounpseudonym, nounpulp, nounquatrain, nounquotation, nounquote, verbreading, nounrecite, verbrendition, nounrevise, verbrevision, nounrhetoric, nounrhyme, nounrhyme, verbromance, nounsaga, nounsatire, nounsatirist, nounscience fiction, nounscribbler, nounscript, nounself-portrait, nounSF, Shakespearean, adjectiveshort story, nounsimile, nounsoliloquy, nounsonnet, nounstanza, nounstilted, adjectivestory, nounstream of consciousness, nounstylist, nounsubplot, nounsubtitle, nounsuperhero, nounsurrealism, nounsurrealistic, adjectivesynopsis, nountailpiece, nountale, nountalking book, nountearjerker, nountext, nountextual, adjectivetexture, nountheme, nounthriller, nountitle, nountragedian, nountragedy, nountragic, adjectivetragicomedy, nountrope, nounturgid, adjectiveunabridged, adjectiveverse, nounvignette, nounvolume, nounweepy, nounwell-turned, adjectivewhodunit, nounwriter, nounwriter's block, nounyarn, noun