tell 
tell (tel)
transitive verb told, tell′·ing
- to enumerate; count; reckon to tell time
- to give an account of (a story, etc.) in speech or writing
- to express in words; utter; say to tell the truth
- to report; announce; publish
- to reveal; disclose; make known a smile that told her joy
- to recognize; distinguish; discriminate unable to tell one from the other
- to decide; know one can't tell what will happen
- to let know; inform; acquaint tell me about the game
- to request; direct; order; command tell him to leave
- to state emphatically to it's there, I tell you
Etymology: ME tellen < OE tellan, lit., to calculate, reckon < Gmc *taljan > Ger zahl, number: see tale
intransitive verb
- to give an account or description (of something)
- to give evidence or be an indication (of something)
- to carry tales; reveal secrets to kiss and tell
- to produce a result; be effective; have a marked effect efforts that are beginning to tell
do tell!
☆Informal is that a fact?: often used sarcastically
tell off
- to count (persons, etc.) and separate them from the total number
- Informal to rebuke severely
tell on
- to have a marked, usually adverse, effect on
- Informal to inform against or gossip about
tell (tel)
noun
Archaeol. esp. in the Middle East, a large mound or hill, built up gradually, covering the successive remains of ancient communities
Etymology: Ar tall, a mound
Tell (tel)
tell
v.
To inform
communicate, explain, say, state, instruct, direct, command, order, disclose, divulge, reveal, make known, utter, speak, report, recite, announce, let know, notify, give notice, declare, acquaint, advise, confess, impart, apprise, familiarize, represent, assert, mention, relate, convey, voice, let out, acknowledge, own, let in on, give the facts, reel off, spit out, come out with, give out, release, leak out, give inside information, break it to, break the news, express, put, show, indicate, carry tales, reveal a secret, betray, tattle, leave word, assure, keep posted, expose, lay open, open up, blurt out, fill in*, let on*, let slip*, clue in*, tell all*, level with*, give away*, come across with*, shoot*, come clean*, make a clean breast of*, get something off one's chest*; see also discuss, inform 2, notify 1, reveal 1, say.Antonyms
hide*, keep secret, be silent. To narrate
To deduce
know, understand, make out, perceive, ascertain, find out, recognize, be sure, differentiate, discriminate, determine, know for certain, clinch*. See syn. study at reveal.reveal.
Object
- story: Camp Six will be a Summit Theater which will tell the story of the conquest of Everest in 1953.
- reporter: Bush told a reporter, " Labels are for cans.
- truth: Here's the key rant in which Clute sets out his protocol: Reviewers who will not tell the truth are like cholesterol.
- tale: The story tells the tale of ' The Beast House ' ( strangely!
- story: Chinese engineers like to tell stories about Western traffic experts who arrive brimming with solutions only to depart, shaking their heads in despair.
- lie: He said: " I think Goebbels said: ` If you are going to tell a lie, tell a big one.
Modifying Another Word
- once: I once told this story, in the work of a student of Titian.
Followed by an intransitive particle
- off: Just hop along to Miss Collins ' study and there she'd be, waiting for the latest telling off.
Used with why or when
- which: It can be hard to tell which one is correct.
- who: He could not trace it backward to its fountain head, and so he could not tell who it was that started it.
- what: The person is not told what has been done.
- where: Also, Fall of Reach tells where Master Cheif came from.
- when: You can always tell when somebody is speaking from personal experience.
- that: But to tell about that would be another story.
Infinitive complement
- worry: The patient comes back with the same symptoms and told not to worry.
- sit: They were told to sit in the room together for just two minutes.
- ignore: The German press was told to ignore it completely.
- do: Yvonne's Story The doctors treating Yvonne were told to do all they could to save her.
Preposition: if
- someone: How can I tell if someone has replied to my query?
Preposition: of
- Messiah: He sent many prophets to tell of the coming messiah.
I'm called little Buttercupödear Little Buttercup, Though I could never tell why.
If we live inside a bad joke, it is up to us to learn, at best and worst, to tell it well.
Never tell anyone anything. If you do you start missing everyone.
Nor at all can tell Whether I mean this day to end myself, Or lend an ear to Plato where he says, That men like soldiers may not quit the post Allotted by the Gods.
'Sensiblemen are all thesamereligion.' 'And pray what is that?' inquired the prince.'Sensible men never tell.'
And they shall be accounted poet kings Who simply tell the most heart-easing things.
Tell me, Muse, of the man of many ways, who was driven far journeys, after he had sacked Troy's sacred citadel. Many were they whose cities he saw, whose minds he learned of, many the pains he suffered in his spirit on the wide sea, struggling for his own life and the homecoming of his companions.
Tell me the old, old story, Of unseen things above.
One should never trust a woman who tells one her real age. A woman who would tell one that, would tell one anything.
Raconter tout serait impossible. To tell all would be impossible.
Well, sir, you never can tell. That's a principle in life with me, sir, if you'll excuse my having such a thing, sir.
Browse dictionary entries near tell
- ‹ telium
- ‹ teliospore
- ‹ telic
- ‹ telial
- ‹ telex
- ‹ telewriter
- ‹ teleworker
- ‹ televisual
- ‹ television
- ‹ televise
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