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

  1. 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)

  2. 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"

  3. tellverb

    let something be known

    "Tell them that you will be late"

  4. tell, narrate, recount, reciteverb

    narrate or give a detailed account of

    "Tell what happened"; "The father told a story to his child"

  5. 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"

  6. tellverb

    discern or comprehend

    "He could tell that she was unhappy"

  7. assure, tellverb

    inform positively and with certainty and confidence

    "I tell you that man is a crook!"

  8. tell, evidenceverb

    give evidence

    "he was telling on all his former colleague"

  9. distinguish, separate, differentiate, secern, secernate, severalize, severalise, tell, tell apartverb

    mark as different

    "We distinguish several kinds of maple"

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. 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.

  2. 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

  1. 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.

  2. 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

  1. Tellverb

    to mention one by one, or piece by piece; to recount; to enumerate; to reckon; to number; to count; as, to tell money

  2. Tellverb

    to utter or recite in detail; to give an account of; to narrate

  3. Tellverb

    to make known; to publish; to disclose; to divulge

  4. Tellverb

    to give instruction to; to make report to; to acquaint; to teach; to inform

  5. Tellverb

    to order; to request; to command

  6. 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

  7. Tellverb

    to make account of; to regard; to reckon; to value; to estimate

  8. Tellverb

    to give an account; to make report

  9. Tellverb

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

  10. Tellnoun

    that which is told; tale; account

  11. Tellnoun

    a hill or mound

Wikidata

  1. 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

  1. 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

  1. 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

  1. TELL

    What does TELL stand for? -- Explore the various meanings for the TELL acronym on the Abbreviations.com website.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. 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

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'tell' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #331

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'tell' in Written Corpus Frequency: #178

  3. Verbs Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'tell' in Verbs Frequency: #24

How to pronounce tell?

How to say tell in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of tell in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of tell in Pythagorean Numerology is: 4

Examples of tell in a Sentence

  1. Mike Brandt:

    I think it's his chance to tell the world, 'I didn't intend to kill him,' if I was him, I think I would want to try and let people know that I’m not a monster.

  2. Mike Gibbons:

    I am a businessman. I’m not a politician. I’m a Constitutional conservative without apology. I don’t deal with slogans. I deal with facts and reason, we have too many politicians that just can’t bear to tell the truth because it might lose them a few votes or might change the way people view them. I’m going to tell you the truth whether you want to hear it or not.

  3. Bennett Beysaid:

    I can tell they feel more loved, as parents we don’t often enough think of our children as little people with feelings and emotions.

  4. Von Glahn:

    We have an exciting story to tell her when she is older.

  5. Donald Trump:

    Don't tell me your vote doesn't matter, and if you thought elections don't matter, I hope these last two years have corrected the impression.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

tell#1#723#10000

Translations for tell

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

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"tell." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/tell>.

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