Word Finder - rumours

definition

A statement or claim of questionable accuracy, from no known reliable source, usually spread by word of mouth.

example

There's a rumor going round that he's going to get married.

definition

Information or misinformation of the kind contained in such claims.

example

They say he used to be a thief, but that's just rumor.

definition

(usually used in the passive voice) To tell a rumor about; to gossip.

example

John is rumored to be next in line for a promotion.

definition

A prolonged, indistinct noise.

There were resignations and rumours of resignations.

As the queen's reign drew to its close, rumours were rife on the great subject of the succession to the throne.

It is known that soon after the death of Nero rumours were current that he was not dead.

Rumours of plots came to hand.

On the 24th of November Mary was at Craigmillar castle, near Edinburgh, where undoubtedly she held a conference with her chief advisers that boded no good to Darnley; and there were rumours of Darnley's design to seize the infant prince and rule in his name.

The stubborn resistance of the garrison delayed Ibrahim's progress; and, meanwhile, wild rumours went abroad as to Mehemet Ali's intentions.

Paul's own " free " attitude to the Law, when on Gentile soil, is just what is implied by the hostile rumours as to his conduct in Acts xxi.

But Tacitus, though he mentions the rumours, declares that its origin was uncertain, and in spite of such works as Profumo's Le fonti ed i tempi dello incendio Neroniano (1905), there is no proof of his guilt.

Rumours of silver ore having been found induced the Russian government to send out expeditions during the second half of the 18th century.

Notwithstanding some rumours of violence it is probable that his death was natural and due to his own intemperate habits.

Rumours of his opinions began to spread and, giving up the office of proctor, he left Oxford in 1569 and went to Ireland to take part in a proposed restoration of the Dublin University.

In March 1565 there were rumours that the marriage had already taken place, but it was actually celebrated at Holyrood on the 29th of July 1565.

Scotland was filled with rumours of plot and assassination, and civil war was.

Rumours of the plot came to his ears, and he fled from Stirling to Glasgow, where he fell ill, possibly by poisoning, and where Mary came to visit him.

Bazaar rumours of British reverses in the Crimea and in Persia increased the temptations for a general rising against the dominant race.

The minds of the native regiments quartered there were maddened by rumours of the defilement which the new Minie cartridges would entail upon them, and incendiary fires broke out in the lines.

Nevertheless, 85 men of the native cavalry regiment, driven to despair by the persistent rumours of the danger to their caste, refused on the 24th of April to accept their cartridges.

Rumours, however, of his work, and of a new edition, were heard from time to time.

If Lancaster should justify the malevolent rumours that were afloat by making a snatch at the crown, the last state of the realm might be worse than the first.

For while many persons believed that the princes still existed there was room for all manner of impostures and false rumours.

When the queen was dead, and some rumours of the kings intentions got abroad, the public indignation was so great that Henry of Richards councillors had to warn him to disavow the Richmond projected marriage, if he wished to retain a single lands at adherenf.

For a time the propaganda had very little success, because the uneducated peasants and factory workers could not understand the phraseology and abstract principles of socialism; but when the propagandists descended to a lower platform and spread rumours that the tsar had given all the land to the peasants, and was prevented by the proprietors and officials from carrying out his benevolent intentions, there was a serious danger of agrarian disorders, and energetic measures were adopted by the authorities.

The news of Bonaparte's signal victory over the Turkish army at Aboukir aroused general rejoicings undimmed by any save the vaguest rumours of his reverse at Acre.

Osman marched against Khotin, but failed to capture it, and his unpopularity with the army was increased by rumours that he designed to collect such troops as were loyal to him, under pretence of going on Ahmed I., 1603-1617.

As early as July 1903 rumours were current that Dinizulu (a son of Cetywayo) was disaffected and the power he exercised as representative of the former royal house rendered his attitude a matter of great moment.

At this time rumours were current of disaffection among the Zulu, but this was regarded as the effervescence natural after the war.

After escaping from the chains of his passion for the beautiful but reckless Mrs Woffington, Garrick had in 1749 married Mademoiselle Violette (Eva Maria Veigel), a German lady who had attracted admiration at Florence or at Vienna as a dancer, and had come to England early in 1746, where her modest grace and the rumours which surrounded her created a furore, and where she found enthusiastic patrons in the earl and countess of Burlington.

In his nephew's interests he accepted a compromise, disclaimed before parliament the truth of the malicious rumours against him, and was reconciled formally with his opponents.

The gaming world was abuzz with rumours and speculation about Nintendo's next generation machine well before its release.

Four members of the band performed together for a charity event in Ayr in 1998, which sparked rumours of a band reunion.

Despite several rumours of reuniting, the girls claim they have no plans to do so.

In October 1992, amongst rumours of domestic feuds and escalating drug abuse, Happy Mondays released their fourth album '..

There are rumours of the boys working on some new material that is to be released sometime during 2006, as the band remains determined to keep the magic going.

It really comes as no surprise that Colbie Caillat got into music at a young age, given the fact that her father Ken Caillat is a music producer and co-produced Fleetwood Mac's Grammy award winning album Rumours, among others.

There were even some rumours and people who thought that Qui-Gon was a dark Jedi, Even a Sith Lord.

Rumours of a reactionary plot by Austria and the Jesuits against Pius, induced him to create a national guard and to appoint Cardinal Ferretti as secretary of state.

Even in the 19th century reports were spread of communities in which Indian blood was supposedly still plainly dominant; but the conclusion of the competent scientists who have investigated such rumours has been that at least absolutely nothing of the language and traditions of the aborigines has survived.

The latter were about to bury him without delay or ceremony, but the gastald or chief magistrate of the city interfered and appointed a public funeral; rumours of his wondrous travels and of posthumous miracles were diffused, and excitement spread like wildfire over Friuli and Carniola; the ceremony had to be deferred more than once, and at last took place in presence of the patriarch of Aquileia and all the local dignitaries.

Though rumours of the existence of the lake had previously reached the east coast, Tanganyika was not visited by any European until, in 1858, the famous expedition of Burton and Speke reached the Arab settlement of Ujiji and partially explored the northern portion.

Whatever impression was made by this report, or by other rumours of the event on which it was founded, was far exceeded, about 1165, by the circulation of a letter purporting to be addressed by Prester John to the emperor Manuel.

Prophecies current among the Christians in Syria of the destruction of Mahomet's sect after six centuries of duration added to the excitement attending these rumours.

Talleyrand disapproved of the Spanish policy of Napoleon which culminated at Bayonne in May 1808; and the stories to the contrary may in all probability be dismissed as idle rumours.

A desire for change of air - he fancied Freiburg was damp - rumours of a new war with France, and the necessity of seeing his Ecclesiastes through the press, took him back to Basel in 1535.

The fate of Poland and Saxony hung in the balance; Germany awaited an entirely new reorganization; Italy was again ready for dismemberment; rumours went that even the pope and the sultan might be largely affected.

With an imposing force he returned to the Forum, and at the foot of the Capitol encountered Galba, who, alarmed by vague rumours of treachery, was making his way through a dense crowd of wondering citizens towards the barracks of the guard.

Cook and William Peterson, set out from the gold-fields of Montana with the express purpose of verifying or refuting the rumours, and they returned full of enthusiasm.

Many unfounded rumours of a willingness on the part of the Confederate States to make peace were circulated to weaken the Union war spirit.

He had not seen the cities himself, nor had he, as is frequently asserted, gone as far north as the present New Mexico, but his reports tended to confirm previous rumours and led the viceroy, Don Antonio de Mendoza, to send Fray Marcos de Niza, a Franciscan friar, on a small and inexpensive expedition of discovery.

Rumours reached them there of agitation in the Neapolitan kingdom, where the people were represented as ready to rise en masse at the first appearance of a leader; the Bandieras, encouraged by Mazzini, consequently determined to make a raid on the Calabrian coast.

It is not astonishing that rumours got abroad that there was a danger of his mind giving way, or, according to a report which was believed at the time, that it had actually done so.