LIE (2)

lie (2). Lie, v.i. to tell a lie, to utter a falsehood

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Lie (lī), n. [[AS. lyge; akin to D. leugen, OHG. lugi, G. lüge, lug, Icel. lygi, Dan. & Sw. lögn, Goth. liugn. See Lie to utter a falsehood.]] 1. 1. A falsehood uttered or acted for the purpose of deception; an intentional violation of truth; an untruth spoken with the intention to deceive.
The proper notion of a lie is an endeavoring to deceive another by signifying that to him as true, which we ourselves think not to be so. S. Clarke. It is willful deceit that makes a lie. A man may act a lie, as by pointing his finger in a wrong direction when a traveler inquires of him his road. Paley. 2. 2. A fiction; a fable; an untruth. Dryden.
3. 3. Anything which misleads or disappoints.
Wishing this lie of life was o'er. Trench. To give the lie to. (a) To charge with falsehood; as, the man gave him the lie. (b) To reveal to be false; as, a man's actions may give the lie to his words. — White lie, a euphemism for such lies as one finds it convenient to tell, and excuses himself for telling. Syn. — Untruth; falsehood; fiction; deception. — Lie, Untruth. A man may state what is untrue from ignorance or misconception; hence, to impute an untruth to one is not necessarily the same as charging him with a lie. Every lie is an untruth, but not every untruth is a lie. Cf. Falsity.