Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Tell?

\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.