Tell
[tel]
Definition
(noun.) 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).
(verb.) discern or comprehend; 'He could tell that she was unhappy'.
(verb.) let something be known; 'Tell them that you will be late'.
(verb.) narrate or give a detailed account of; 'Tell what happened'; 'The father told a story to his child'.
(verb.) give evidence; 'he was telling on all his former colleague'.
Edited by ELLA--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To mention one by one, or piece by piece; to recount; to enumerate; to reckon; to number; to count; as, to tell money.
(v. t.) To utter or recite in detail; to give an account of; to narrate.
(v. t.) To make known; to publish; to disclose; to divulge.
(v. t.) To give instruction to; to make report to; to acquaint; to teach; to inform.
(v. t.) To order; to request; to command.
(v. t.) 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.
(v. t.) To make account of; to regard; to reckon; to value; to estimate.
(v. i.) To give an account; to make report.
(v. i.) To take effect; to produce a marked effect; as, every shot tells; every expression tells.
(n.) That which is told; tale; account.
(n.) A hill or mound.
Typed by Elbert
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Express, utter, speak, state, mention, communicate, publish, speak of, make mention of.[2]. Relate, recount, rehearse, narrate, describe, report, give an account of.[3]. Inform, teach, instruct, acquaint, apprise, make known to, explain to, disclose to, communicate to, make known to.[4]. Disclose, reveal, divulge, confess, betray, acknowledge, own, declare, make known.[5]. Number, count, enumerate, compute, reckon, take an account of, run over, sum up, call over.[6]. Discern, discover, make out, distinguish.
v. n. [1]. Give account, make report.[2]. Take effect, be effective, hit the nail on the head.
Editor: Vito
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Mention, number, enumerate, count, recount, utter, recite, state, narrate,disclose, publish, betray, divulge, promulgate, acquaint, teach, inform,explain, communicate, report, rehearse, discern, judge, discriminate,ascertain, decide, describe
ANT:Repress, suppress, misrecount, misnarrate, miscommunicate, misdeclare,misrecite, misjudge, misdescribe
Editor: Nicolas
Definition
v.t. to number or give an account of: to utter: to narrate: to disclose: to inform: to discern: to explain.—v.i. to give an account: to produce or take effect: to chat gossip: to tell tales play the informer:—pa.t. and pa.p. tōld.—adj. Tell′able capable of being told.—ns. Tell′er one who tells or counts: a clerk whose duty it is to receive and pay money; Tell′ership the office of a teller.—p.adj. Tell′ing having great effect.—adv. Tell′ingly in a telling or effective manner.—n. Tell′-tale one who tells tales: one who officiously tells the private concerns of others: an indication or an indicator as an automatic instrument: a bird of genus Totanus a tattler.—adj. given to reveal secrets blabbing: apparent openly seen: giving warning.—Tell off to count off: to detach on some special duty.
Checked by Alma
Examples
- But please to tell me at once what you have done. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- I could tell you a story about that same uncle, gentlemen, that would rather surprise you. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- He had not dared to tell it sooner. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- He could not tell me that; he saw me, and over my shoulder he saw the man. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- She would have spoken to tell her husband her fears, but checked herself. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- Truth to tell, the supper had been waiting a most unreasonable time. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- I don't tell amusing stories, he said curtly, and walked across to the piano. Fergus Hume. The Island of Fantasy.
- I told his impudence that the gilt pestle and mortar was quite ornament enough; as if I was born, indeed, to be a country surgeon's wife! William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Remember what I told you on the moor--and ask yourself what my assertion is worth. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- We went to the 'commissionaire' of the hotel--I don't know what a 'commissionaire' is, but that is the man we went to--and told him we wanted a guide. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- Sixteen shillings sterling, we are told by Mr Byron, was the price of a good horse in the capital of Chili. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- I must do what I am told. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- But practical sense told them that sex cannot be confined within marriage. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- There were only these few words in her neatly flowing hand:-- I have told Mrs. Casaubon. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Tom, love, I am telling Mr. Harthouse that he never saw you abroad. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- It would have been almost as good as telling him that she was the thief. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- I was this moment telling Jane, I thought you would begin to be impatient for tidings of us. Jane Austen. Emma.
- She answered Sergeant Cuff's inquiry for the landlord, by telling him sharply that her master was up-stairs, and was not to be bothered by anybody. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Thank you, Dobbin, he said, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles, I was just--just telling her I would. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- I don't think, Mr. Hale, you have done quite right in introducing such a person to us without telling us what he had been. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
- Edison has always had an amused admiration for Bergmann, and his social side is often made evident by his love of telling stories about those days of struggle. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- Mr. Letterblair tells me the financial question has been settled-- Oh, yes, she said indifferently. Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- If one leads you wrong, I am sure the other tells you of it. Jane Austen. Emma.
- Wait till Bill tells you, then. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- I don't know how, but the book tells. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- If he tells you that socialism is against human nature, we have a perfect right to ask where he proved the possibilities of human nature. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- See what tidings that horn tells us of--to announce, I ween, some hership [12] and robbery which has been done upon my lands. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Edison himself tells the story of what happened. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
Inputed by Estella