to give an account or narrative of; narrate; relate (a story, tale, etc.): to tell the story of Lincoln's childhood.
2.
to make known by speech or writing (a fact, news, information, etc.); communicate.
3.
to announce or proclaim.
4.
to utter (the truth, a lie, etc.).
5.
to express in words (thoughts, feelings, etc.).
6.
to reveal or divulge (something secret or private).
7.
to say plainly or positively: I cannot tell just what was done.
8.
to discern or recognize (a distant person or thing) so as to be able to identify or describe: Can you tell who that is over there?
9.
to distinguish; discriminate; ascertain: You could hardly tell the difference between them.
10.
to inform (a person) of something: He told me his name.
11.
to assure emphatically: I won't, I tell you!
12.
to bid, order, or command: Tell him to stop.
13.
to mention one after another, as in enumerating; count or set one by one or in exact amount: to tell the cattle in a herd; All told there were 17 if we are correct.
–verb (used without object)
14.
to give an account or report: Tell me about your trip.
15.
to give evidence or be an indication: The ruined temples told of an ancient culture, long since passed from existence.
16.
to disclose something secret or private; inform; tattle: She knows who did it, but she won't tell.
17.
to say positively; determine; predict: Who can tell?
18.
to have force or effect; operate effectively: a contest in which every stroke tells.
19.
to produce a marked or severe effect: The strain was telling on his health.
20.
BritishDialect. to talk or chat.
—Verb phrases
21.
tell off,
a.
to separate from the whole and assign to a particular duty.
b.
Informal. to rebuke severely; scold: It was about time that someone told him off.
22.
tell on, to tattle on (someone).
—Idiom
23.
tell it like it is, Informal. to tell the complete, unadulterated truth; be forthright: He may be crude but he tells it like it is.
[Origin: bef. 900; ME tellen, OE tellan to relate, count; c. D tellen to reckon, count, ON telja to count, say, OHG zellén; akin to tale]
disclosing unintentionally; "a telling smile"; "a telltale panel of lights"; "a telltale patch of oil on the water marked where the boat went down" [syn: revealing]
2.
powerfully persuasive; "a cogent argument"; "a telling presentation"; "a weighty argument" [syn: cogent]
3.
producing a strong effect; "gave an impressive performance as Othello"; "a telling gesture" [syn: impressive]
noun
1.
an act of narration; "he was the hero according to his own relation"; "his endless recounting of the incident eventually became unbearable" [syn: relation]
2.
informing by words
3.
disclosing information or giving evidence about another [syn: tattle]
Tell\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Told; p. pr. & vb. n. Telling.] [AS. tellan, from talu tale, number, speech; akin to D. tellen to count, G. z["a]hlen, OHG. zellen to count, tell, say, Icel. telja, Dan. tale to speak, t[ae]lle to count. See Tale that which is told.]1. To mention one by one, or piece by piece; to recount; to enumerate; to reckon; to number; to count; as, to tell money. "An heap of coin he told." --Spenser. He telleth the number of the stars. --Ps. cxlvii. 4. Tell the joints of the body. --Jer. Taylor. 2. To utter or recite in detail; to give an account of; to narrate. Of which I shall tell all the array. --Chaucer. And not a man appears to tell their fate. --Pope. 3. To make known; to publish; to disclose; to divulge. Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? --Gen. xii. 18. 4. To give instruction to; to make report to; to acquaint; to teach; to inform. A secret pilgrimage, That you to-day promised to tell me of? --Shak. 5. To order; to request; to command. He told her not to be frightened. --Dickens. 6. To discern so as to report; to ascertain by observing; to find out; to discover; as, I can not tell where one color ends and the other begins. 7. To make account of; to regard; to reckon; to value; to estimate. [Obs.] I ne told no dainity of her love. --Chaucer. Note: Tell, though equivalent in some respect to speak and say, has not always the same application. We say, to tell truth or falsehood, to tell a number, to tell the reasons, to tell something or nothing; but we never say, to tell a speech, discourse, or oration, or to tell an argument or a lesson. It is much used in commands; as, tell me the whole story; tell me all you know. To tell off, to count; to divide. --Sir W. Scott. Syn: To communicate; impart; reveal; disclose; inform; acquaint; report; repeat; rehearse; recite.
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