Told

Told
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. [1913 Webster]

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.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • told — [tōld] vt., vi. pt. & pp. of TELL1 all told all (being) counted; in all [there were forty all told] …   English World dictionary

  • Told — (t[=o]ld), imp. & p. p. of {Tell}. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • told — told; un·told; …   English syllables

  • told — index acquainted, informed (having information), narrative, oral, parol, stated Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • told — [təuld US tould] the past tense and past participle of ↑tell …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • told — the past tense and past participle of tell …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • told — past tense of tell, from O.E. talde, past tense of tellan (see TELL (Cf. tell) (v.)) …   Etymology dictionary

  • told — [[t]to͟ʊld[/t]] 1) Told is the past tense and past participle of tell. 2) PHRASE: PHR with cl, amount PHR You can use all told to introduce or follow a summary, general statement, or total. All told there were 104 people on the payroll... All… …   English dictionary

  • told — I told 1. told sb., en, e, ene (åretold), i sms. tolde , fx toldeklampe II told 2. told sb., en (afgift; toldsted) …   Dansk ordbog

  • told — /tohld/, v. 1. pt. and pp. of tell. 2. all told, counting everyone or everything; in all: There were 50 guests all told. * * * …   Universalium

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