tell off
informal to reprimand; scold: they told me off for stealing apples
to count and dismiss: he told off four more soldiers
Derived forms of tell off
- telling off or telling-off, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
How to use tell off in a sentence
One can not tell off-hand whether 10 hours, sidereal time, falls in the day or in the night.
A Text-Book of Astronomy | George C. ComstockOn looking at a map, one often feels a desire to tell off-hand the distance between two places.
I can't tell off-hand what it is, whether you've come on or gone back.
The Far Horizon | Lucas Malet
Other Idioms and Phrases with tell off
Rebuke severely, reprimand, as in It's time someone told her off about her behavior. There is also a synonymous expression, tell someone where to get off, as in When he called back a third time, I told him where to get off. [Colloquial; early 1900s] Also see get off, def. 7.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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