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Editorial Guides For "tell"

Say vs Tell vs Speak vs Talk: Clear Usage Patterns

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Tell

/[tʰɔː]/ name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun

1
A surname.

Noun

1
A reflexive, often habitual behavior, especially one occurring in a context that often features attempts at deception by persons under psychological stress (such as a poker game or police interrogation), that reveals information that the person exhibiting the behavior is attempting to withhold.
2
A hill or mound, originally and especially in the Middle East, over or consisting of the ruins of ancient settlements.
"Succoth is now associated with a large tell situated in the Jordan Valley, Deir Allah."
3
A giveaway; something that unintentionally reveals or hints at a secret. informal
"Those whose business it is to verify luxury bags insist, at least publicly, that there’s always a “tell” to a superfake."
4
That which is told; a tale or account. archaic
"April 4, 1743, Horace Walpole, letter to Sir Horace Mann I am at the end of my tell."
5
A private message to an individual in a chat room; a whisper. Internet

Verb

1
To count, reckon, or enumerate. transitive
"All told, there were over a dozen. Can you tell time on a clock? He had untold wealth."
2
mark as different wordnet
3
To narrate, to recount. ditransitive, transitive
"I want to tell a story; I want to tell you a story."
4
discern or comprehend wordnet
5
To convey by speech; to say. ditransitive, transitive
"Finally, someone told him the truth. He seems to like to tell lies."

Show 15 more definitions

6
give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority wordnet
7
To instruct or inform. transitive
"Please tell me how to do it."
8
let something be known wordnet
9
To order; to direct, to say to someone. transitive
"Tell him to go away."
10
narrate or give a detailed account of wordnet
11
To discern, notice, identify or distinguish. intransitive, transitive
"Can you tell whether those flowers are real or silk, from this distance? No, there's no way to tell."
12
give evidence wordnet
13
To reveal. transitive
"Time will tell what became of him."
14
express in words wordnet
15
To be revealed. intransitive
"Cherry looks old, Mergenthaler told himself. His age is telling. Querulous — that's the word. He's become a whining, querulous old man absorbed with trivialities."
16
inform positively and with certainty and confidence wordnet
17
To have an effect, especially a noticeable one; to be apparent, to be demonstrated. intransitive
"Sir Gerald was moving slower; his wounds were beginning to tell."
18
To use (beads or similar objects) as an aid to prayer. transitive
19
To inform someone in authority about a wrongdoing. childish, intransitive
"I saw you steal those sweets! I'm telling!"
20
To reveal information in prose through outright expository statement — contrasted with show. intransitive
"Maria rewrote the section of her novel that talked about Meg and Sage's friendship to have less telling and more showing."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English tellen (“to count, tell”), from Old English tellan (“to count, tell”), from Proto-West Germanic *talljan, from Proto-Germanic *taljaną, *talzijaną (“to count, enumerate”), from Proto-Germanic *talą, *talō (“number, counting”), from Proto-Indo-European *dol- (“calculation, fraud”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian tälle (“to say; tell”), West Frisian telle (“to count”), West Frisian fertelle (“to tell, narrate”), Dutch tellen (“to count”) and Dutch vertellen (“to tell”), Low German tellen (“to count”), German zählen, Faroese telja. More at tale.

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

From Arabic تَلّ (tall, “hill, elevation”) or Hebrew תֵּל (tél, “hill”), from Proto-Semitic *tall- (“hill”).

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