What does TELL mean?
Definitions for TELL
tɛltell
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word TELL.
Princeton's WordNet
Tell, William Tellverb
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)
state, say, tellverb
express in words
"He said that he wanted to marry her"; "tell me what is bothering you"; "state your opinion"; "state your name"
tellverb
let something be known
"Tell them that you will be late"
tell, narrate, recount, reciteverb
narrate or give a detailed account of
"Tell what happened"; "The father told a story to his child"
order, tell, enjoin, sayverb
give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority
"I said to him to go home"; "She ordered him to do the shopping"; "The mother told the child to get dressed"
tellverb
discern or comprehend
"He could tell that she was unhappy"
assure, tellverb
inform positively and with certainty and confidence
"I tell you that man is a crook!"
tell, evidenceverb
give evidence
"he was telling on all his former colleague"
distinguish, separate, differentiate, secern, secernate, severalize, severalise, tell, tell apartverb
mark as different
"We distinguish several kinds of maple"
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
To Tellverb
preterite and part. pass. told.
Etymology: tellan , Saxon; taelen, tellen, Dutch; talen, Danish.
I will not eat till I have told mine errand. Gen. xxiv. 33.
Thy message which might else in telling wound,
And in performing end us. John Milton.I will declare what wise men have told from their fathers, and have not hid. Job xv. 18.
When Gideon heard the telling of the dream, and the interpretation, he worshipped. Judg. vii. 13.
He longer will delay to hear thee tell
His generation. John Milton.You must know; but break, O break my heart,
Before I tell my fatal story out,
Th’ usurper of my throne is my wife! Dryden.The rest are vanish’d, none repass’d the gate,
And not a man appears to tell their fate. Alexander Pope, Odyssey.He gently ask’d where all the people be,
Which in that stately building wont to dwell,
Who answer’d him full soft, he could not tell. Fa. Qu.I told him of myself; which was as much
As to have ask’d him pardon. William Shakespeare, Ant. and Cleopatra.Tell me now, what lady is the same,
To whom you swore a secret pilgrimage,
That you to day promis’d to tell me of. William Shakespeare.The fourth part of a shekel of silver will I give to the man of God to tell us our way. 1 Sam. ix. 8.
Saint Paul telleth us, we must needs be subject not only for fear, but also for conscience sake. Robert Sanderson.
Tell me how may I know him, how adore. John Milton.
They will tell it to the inhabitants. Num. xiv. 14.
Here lies the learned Savile’s heir,
So early wise, and lasting fair;
That none, except her years they told,
Thought her a child, or thought her old. Edmund Waller.Numerous sails the fearful only tell;
Courage from hearts, and not from numbers grows. Dryd.A child can tell twenty before he has any idea of infinite. John Locke.
She doubts if two and two make four,
Though she has told them ten times o’er. Matthew Prior.Tush, never tell me, I take it much unkindly,
That thou, Iago, who hast had my purse,
As if the strings were thine, should’st know of this. William Shakespeare.To Tellverb
I will compass thine altar, O Lord, that I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works. Psal. xxvi. 7.
Ye that live and move, fair creatures tell,
Tell, if ye saw, how came I thus, how here? John Milton.David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, lest they should tell on us, saying, so did David. 1 Sam. xxvii. 11.
ChatGPT
Tell
Tell refers to the act of communicating or informing someone about something verbally or in writing. It involves sharing information, details, or stories and is typically done to convey facts, opinions, instructions, or experiences. When someone tells something, they are speaking or writing directly to someone else, sharing a message or conveying a particular meaning or intention.
tell
Tell (verb): To communicate or relay information, instructions, or a narrative to someone by speaking, writing, or otherwise conveying the message. It involves expressing or disclosing facts, details, or opinions to someone or a group of people.
Webster Dictionary
Tellverb
to mention one by one, or piece by piece; to recount; to enumerate; to reckon; to number; to count; as, to tell money
Tellverb
to utter or recite in detail; to give an account of; to narrate
Tellverb
to make known; to publish; to disclose; to divulge
Tellverb
to give instruction to; to make report to; to acquaint; to teach; to inform
Tellverb
to order; to request; to command
Tellverb
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
Tellverb
to make account of; to regard; to reckon; to value; to estimate
Tellverb
to give an account; to make report
Tellverb
to take effect; to produce a marked effect; as, every shot tells; every expression tells
Tellnoun
that which is told; tale; account
Tellnoun
a hill or mound
Wikidata
Tell
A tell or tel, is a type of archaeological mound created by human occupation and abandonment of a geographical site over many centuries. A classic tell looks like a low, truncated cone with a flat top and sloping sides.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Tell
tel, 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. [A.S. tellan; Ice. telja, Ger. zählen, to number.]
The Nuttall Encyclopedia
Tell
a fertile strip of land of 47 m. of average breadth in North-West Africa, between the mountains and the Mediterranean Sea; produces cereals, wine, &c.
Suggested Resources
TELL
What does TELL stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the TELL acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.
Surnames Frequency by Census Records
TELL
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Tell is ranked #18128 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
The Tell surname appeared 1,536 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 would have the surname Tell.
59.4% or 913 total occurrences were White.
29.9% or 460 total occurrences were Black.
4.6% or 72 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
3.2% or 50 total occurrences were of two or more races.
2.2% or 35 total occurrences were Asian.
0.3% or 6 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'TELL' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #331
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'TELL' in Written Corpus Frequency: #178
Verbs Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'TELL' in Verbs Frequency: #24
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of TELL in Chaldean Numerology is: 6
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of TELL in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4
Examples of TELL in a Sentence
The block on flights is a measure that we have taken to immediately deal with an emergency, and we will keep it in place as long as health authorities and therefore the scientific community tell us that we should.
I just wanted to see my husband. And I got to see him ... and I got to pray with him. And I got to tell him, ‘I forgive you 50 billion percent, with all my heart. You're the bravest man I've ever known.’ You know, we were living a nightmare.
I told Monica Lewinsky in 2018 .,' Nobody should tell your story but you, and The Real Story's kind of gross if they do,'.
Sending these children and their families to Nauru is not the Australian way ... It's wrong. Medical professionals tell us this. Humanitarian agencies tell us this.
I just got goose bumps thinking (about) the fact I might have to tell Venus Williams I can’t play mixed doubles because of injuries, it’s going to be heartbreaking.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for TELL
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- أخبرArabic
- explicar, dirCatalan, Valencian
- říciCzech
- erzählen, sagenGerman
- καταλαβαίνω, λέωGreek
- decir, contarSpanish
- käskeä, kertoa, määrätäFinnish
- direFrench
- abair leIrish
- innisScottish Gaelic
- הבין, הבדיל, הגיד, אמרHebrew
- ասելArmenian
- segjaIcelandic
- insegnare, dire, raccontareItalian
- 教える, 言う, 述べるJapanese
- ಹೇಳಿKannada
- amen dicoLatin
- stāstītLatvian
- кажува, разликуваMacedonian
- vertellen, zeggen, instruerenDutch
- fortelleNorwegian
- powiedziećPolish
- contarPortuguese
- сказать, различать, различить, приказать, говоритьRussian
- máinnastit, muitalit, bagadallatNorthern Sami
- säga åt, tala om, berätta, säga till, säga, avgöraSwedish
- บอกThai
Get even more translations for TELL »
Translation
Find a translation for the TELL definition in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Word of the Day
Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"TELL." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/TELL>.
Discuss these TELL definitions with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In