draw a long bow
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to exaggerate or tell a lie
Literally: shoot an arrow from a longbow
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
He's drawing a long bow with that story about catching a huge fish
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Equivalents & related
Near equivalent
muối bỏ biển
a drop in the bucket
Tiếng Việt
Near equivalent
drop in the bucket
A small amount that makes little difference
English · via muối bỏ biển
Lighter cards are two steps away in the meaning graph — equivalents of equivalents, reached via the entry shown on the card.
Common questions
What does “draw a long bow” mean?
to exaggerate or tell a lie Literally: shoot an arrow from a longbow
Is “draw a long bow” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
What is the closest equivalent?
“muối bỏ biển” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.