Definitions for: Tell


[n] a Swiss patriot who lived in the early 14th century and who was renowned for his skill as an archer; according to legend an Austrian governor compelled him to shoot an apple from his son's head with his crossbow (which he did successfully without mishap)
[v] mark as different; "We distinguish several kinds of maple"
[v] discern or comprehend; "He could tell that she was unhappy"
[v] give instructions to or direct somebody to do something; "I said to him to go home"; "She ordered him to do the shopping"; "The mother told the child to get dressed"
[v] let something be known; "Tell them that you will be late"
[v] narrate or give a detailed account of; "Tell what happened"; "The father told a story to his child"
[v] give evidence; "he was telling on all his former colleague"
[v] express in words; "He said that he wanted to marry her"; "tell me what is bothering you"; "state your opinion"; "state your name"
[v] inform positively and with certainty and confidence; "I tell you that man is a crook!"



Webster (1913) Definition: 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.


Tell, v. i.
1. To give an account; to make report.

That I may publish with the voice of thankgiving,
and tell of all thy wondrous works. --Ps. xxvi. 7.

2. To take effect; to produce a marked effect; as, every shot
tells; every expression tells.

To tell of.
(a) To speak of; to mention; to narrate or describe.
(b) To inform against; to disclose some fault of.

To tell on, to inform against. [Archaic & Colloq.]

Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David.
--1 Sam.
xxvii. 11.


Tell, n.
That which is told; tale; account. [R.]

I am at the end of my tell. --Walpole.


Tell, n. [Ar.]
A hill or mound. --W. M. Thomson.

Synonyms: assure, differentiate, distinguish, enjoin, evidence, narrate, order, recite, recount, say, secern, secernate, separate, severalise, severalize, spin, state, tell apart, William Tell

See Also: add, affirm, air, announce, annunciate, answer, append, archer, articulate, assert, aver, avow, bare, bespeak, betoken, bowman, break, bring out, brush down, call, command, compare, compel, contradistinguish, contrast, declare, demarcate, digress, direct, discern, disclose, discover, discriminate, dissociate, distinguish, divagate, divulge, enunciate, explain, expose, express, foretell, get out, give, give away, give tongue to, guess, harbinger, herald, identify, impart, indicate, individualise, individualize, infer, inform, ingeminate, instruct, introduce, iterate, know, know apart, label, lay out, leave, let on, let out, make out, mention, misstate, note, observe, pass on, pick out, place, point, preface, premise, present, propagandise, propagandize, publicise, publicize, recognise, recognize, reiterate, relate, remark, repeat, reply, represent, request, require, respond, restate, retell, reveal, rhapsodise, rhapsodize, send for, sex, signal, single out, stratify, stray, sum, sum up, summarise, summarize, supply, swan, swear, talk, tell apart, tell off, utter, verbalise, verbalize, verify, vocalise, vocalize, wander, warn, yarn

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