a person who heedlessly or maliciously reveals private or confidential matters; tattler; talebearer.
2.
a thing serving to reveal or disclose something.
3.
any of various indicating or registering devices, as a time clock.
4.
Music. a gauge on an organ for indicating the air pressure.
5.
an indicator showing the position of a ship's rudder.
6.
a row of strips hung over a track to warn train crew members on freight trains that a low bridge, tunnel, or the like is approaching.
7.
Yachting. (on a sailboat) a feather, string, or similar device, often attached to the port and starboard shrouds and to the backstay, to indicate the relative direction of the wind.
8.
Squash. a narrow piece of metal across the front wall of a court, parallel to and extending 17 inches (43.2 cm) above the base: a ball striking this is an out.
–adjective
9.
that reveals or betrays what is not intended to be known: a telltale blush.
10.
giving notice or warning of something, as a mechanical device.
Something that indicates or reveals information; a sign.
Any of various devices that indicate or register information, especially:
A time clock.
Nautical One of the brightly colored lengths of yarn or ribbon attached to the shrouds, stays, or sails of a sailboat, serving to indicate wind direction relative to the boat's motion.
A row of strips hung above a railroad track to warn a passing train of low clearance ahead.
Sports A resonant metal strip, 24 or 30 inches (61 or 76 centimeters) high, across the bottom of the front wall of a racquets or squash court above which the ball must be hit.
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]
noun
1.
someone who gossips indiscreetly [syn: tattletale]
Tat"tler\, n. 1. One who tattles; an idle talker; one who tells tales. --Jer. Taylor. 2. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of several species of large, long-legged sandpipers belonging to the genus Totanus. Note: The common American species are the greater tattler, or telltale (T. melanoleucus), the smaller tattler, or lesser yellowlegs (T. flavipes), the solitary tattler (T. solitarius), and the semipalmated tattler, or willet. The first two are called also telltale, telltale spine, telltale tattler, yellowlegs, yellowshanks, and yelper.
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