- Tell
- Tell Tell (t[e^]l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Told} (t[=o]ld); 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.
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He telleth the number of the stars. --Ps. cxlvii. 4. [1913 Webster]
Tell the joints of the body. --Jer. Taylor. [1913 Webster]
2. To utter or recite in detail; to give an account of; to narrate. [1913 Webster]
Of which I shall tell all the array. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
And not a man appears to tell their fate. --Pope. [1913 Webster]
3. To make known; to publish; to disclose; to divulge. [1913 Webster]
Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? --Gen. xii. 18. [1913 Webster]
4. To give instruction to; to make report to; to acquaint; to teach; to inform. [1913 Webster]
A secret pilgrimage, That you to-day promised to tell me of? --Shak. [1913 Webster]
5. To order; to request; to command. [1913 Webster]
He told her not to be frightened. --Dickens. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
7. To make account of; to regard; to reckon; to value; to estimate. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]
I ne told no dainity of her love. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
{To tell off}, to count; to divide. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]
Syn: To communicate; impart; reveal; disclose; inform; acquaint; report; repeat; rehearse; recite. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
