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told

[tohld]

Example Sentences Origin

verb

simple past tense and past participle of tell.

Idiom

all told, counting everyone or everything; in all: There were 50 guests all told.

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Told is one of our favorite verbs.

So is lollygag. Does it mean:

to spend time idly; loaf.

to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.

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Related forms

well-told, adjective

Example Sentences

Bialek's testifying that she had told them of the incident at the time.

Ho said, and they told university officials that everything would be returned next week.

However, he was told he no longer had a right to live there.

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Bialek's testifying that she had told them of the incident at the time.

Ho said, and they told university officials that everything would be returned next week.

However, he was told he no longer had a right to live there.

They told us about the deforestation of their land to make way for coconut plantations.

After four rounds of antibiotics, her gastroenterologist told her that he had done all he could think of.

The older school told jokes and stories, punctuated with the drummer's rimshot.

He told us to stress the plant by tying garden string around several of the branches to choke them.

But then again, so was asking total strangers to mail you the things they've never told anyone.

Loughner also had told doctors that he had several imaginary friends.

His crisis of faith stemmed in part from studying biology, he told the.

In the aftermath of fighting or repression, people are often told to forget things.

After floating to the surface, the tag told a satellite the details of its journey.

Many stories are also told about the parents of autistic children.

It was, they told themselves, no more than their due.

The garden department told me there was some basil in the test garden that had flowered and need to be snipped.

Half were told that the statements would be erased, while the other half believed the statements were saved.

My first grade teacher told me that people who were bored, were boring.

The way out, it has told staff, is to help clients to borrow from other lenders rather than to be a lender itself.

They told amazing stories about the recovery of the lobster stocks and how they turned the corner to sustainable fishing.

One group of volunteers was asked to take a dietary supplement, the other group was told they were getting a placebo.

The way the story was told chronologically was beneficial to the reader and made it easier to follow.

She told me that bear damage to east mountain hives is not uncommon.

In some cases, the researchers told participants that a pain-relieving cream had been applied to their skin.

We are told that perhaps they will begin to offer cures for certain diseases.

Hempton told me that listening is optimal with earbuds.

Several years ago a youth counselor told me about the dilemma he faced when dealing with violent young men.

She told me something that has stayed with me: the family had saved for three years to make the trip.

My mom once told me that hanging wallpaper is the ultimate test of a marriage.

Then a licensing officer told her that the code does not permit milk to be pasteurised a second time.

Because a new study finds that people putted better when told that their putter had been used by a pro golfer.

Afifi told the agent he was willing to answer questions if his lawyer approved.

But the parties told the federal judge handling the.

He was told that he had finished his career with that remark.

Somebody told him that the birds would be the answer.

The research universities were told to compete more.

In the final case, they were told they couldn't know what the men thought.

But one word twenty times repeated, one dreadful word, told me the reason for the.

They are hard to keep in stock, all three merchants told me.

She asked the university about the dog before getting it, and was told it wasn't a problem.

But if he is told that the mug is his, and asked immediately afterwards.

Many stories have been told as a result of these investigations-many remain to be told.

Nobody, he said, had ever told him the big secret:.

Even sailors who didn't run aground here told tales of the howling winds and birds.

He returned to his alma mater for what he was told would be a three-year teaching.

Participants were told to recall the robbery freely on both.

But some urban myths have been told so many times that people start believing them.

When you were growing up, your mother probably told you to sit up straight, because good posture helps you look confident and.

There are dozens of illuminating moments in these narratives told from the vantage point of participants and witnesses.

Jeon implored the reporters not to divulge his whereabouts to his parents, whom he had told he was traveling somewhere else.

Members of one were told to drink half a litre of water.

Patients told they were getting a placebo still reported improvements at a much higher rate than patients who were not treated.

My grandfather told me about his job, and he taught me to smell the flowers in the garden.

Japan's government has already told millions of office workers to ditch their suits.

The other half were told they would be subordinates.

As freshmen, they were told to come up with a kitchen product that would help elderly people to remain in their homes longer.

He told critics of the decision that he was trying.

As a little girl, she answered the phone and told supplicants whom to call to get on welfare or into the city hospital.

The subjects were told that something unfortunate happened to this friend, everything from car troubles to getting cheated.

I've been told that the minimum would be two peer-reviewed journal articles a year.

Users are told whom to trust by digital certificates, which allow a.

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Dictionary.com Unabridged

verb (used with object)

to give an account or narrative of; narrate; relate (a story, tale, etc.): to tell the story of Lincoln's childhood.

to make known by speech or writing (a fact, news, information, etc.); communicate.

to announce or proclaim.

to utter (the truth, a lie, etc.).

to express in words (thoughts, feelings, etc.).

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to reveal or divulge (something secret or private).

to say plainly or positively: I cannot tell just what was done.

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?

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.

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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.

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19.

to produce a marked or severe effect: The strain was telling on his health.

20.

British Dialect. to talk or chat.

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Verb phrases

21.

tell off,

to separate from the whole and assign to a particular duty.

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:
before 900; Middle English tellen, Old English tellan to relate, count; cognate with Dutch tellen to reckon, count, Old Norse telja to count, say, Old High German zellēn; akin to tale

Synonyms
1. recount, describe, report. 2. impart. 4. speak. 6. disclose, betray; acknowledge, own, confess; declare.

Link To told

Collins

World English Dictionary

told (təʊld)

—vb
1.	the past tense and past participle of tell

—*adj*
2.	See all told

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

tell

"mound, hill," 1864, from Arabic tall, related to Heb. tel "mount, hill, heap."

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told

past tense of tell, from O.E. talde, past tense of tellan (see tell (v.)).

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American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

told

see all told; I told you so; little bird told me. also see under tell.