To tell off

To tell off
Off Off ([o^]f; 115), adv. [OE. of, orig. the same word as R. of, prep., AS. of, adv. & prep. [root]194. See {Of}.] In a general sense, denoting from or away from; as: [1913 Webster]

1. Denoting distance or separation; as, the house is a mile off. [1913 Webster]

2. Denoting the action of removing or separating; separation; as, to take off the hat or cloak; to cut off, to pare off, to clip off, to peel off, to tear off, to march off, to fly off, and the like. [1913 Webster]

3. Denoting a leaving, abandonment, departure, abatement, interruption, or remission; as, the fever goes off; the pain goes off; the game is off; all bets are off. [1913 Webster]

4. Denoting a different direction; not on or towards: away; as, to look off. [1913 Webster]

5. Denoting opposition or negation. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

The questions no way touch upon puritanism, either off or on. --Bp. Sanderson. [1913 Webster]

{From off}, off from; off. ``A live coal . . . taken with the tongs from off the altar.'' --Is. vi. 6.

{Off and on}. (a) Not constantly; not regularly; now and then; occasionally. (b) (Naut.) On different tacks, now toward, and now away from, the land.

{To be off}. (a) To depart; to escape; as, he was off without a moment's warning. (b) To be abandoned, as an agreement or purpose; as, the bet was declared to be off. [Colloq.]

{To come off}, {To cut off}, {To fall off}, {To go off}, etc. See under {Come}, {Cut}, {Fall}, {Go}, etc.

{To get off}. (a) To utter; to discharge; as, to get off a joke. (b) To go away; to escape; as, to get off easily from a trial. [Colloq.]

{To take off} {To do a take-off on}, {To take off}, to mimic, lampoon, or impersonate.

{To tell off} (a) (Mil.), to divide and practice a regiment or company in the several formations, preparatory to marching to the general parade for field exercises. --Farrow. (b) to rebuke (a person) for an improper action; to scold; to reprimand.

{To be well off}, to be in good condition.

{To be ill off}, {To be badly off}, to be in poor condition. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • tell off someone — tell off (someone) to tell someone that their behavior is not acceptable. I was told off by my best friend, and it was a long time before I could forgive her. He s always been obnoxious and it s about time someone told him off …   New idioms dictionary

  • tell off — (someone) to tell someone that their behavior is not acceptable. I was told off by my best friend, and it was a long time before I could forgive her. He s always been obnoxious and it s about time someone told him off …   New idioms dictionary

  • tell off — [v] reprimand; criticize harshly berate, censure, chide, give piece of one’s mind*, give tongue lashing*, lecture, rail, rake over the coals*, rebuke, reproach, reprove, revile, scold, take to task*, tick off*, upbraid, vituperate; concepts 44,52 …   New thesaurus

  • tell off — verb reprimand She told the misbehaving student off • Syn: ↑brush down • Hypernyms: ↑call on the carpet, ↑take to task, ↑rebuke, ↑rag, ↑trounce, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • tell off — phrasal verb [transitive] Word forms tell off : present tense I/you/we/they tell off he/she/it tells off present participle telling off past tense told off past participle told off informal to criticize someone angrily for doing something wrong… …   English dictionary

  • To tell off — 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,… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • tell off — {v.} 1. To name or count one by one and give some special duty to; give a share to. * /Five boy scouts were told off to clean the camp./ 2. {informal} To speak to angrily or sharply; attack with words; scold. * /Mr. Black got angry and told off… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • tell off — {v.} 1. To name or count one by one and give some special duty to; give a share to. * /Five boy scouts were told off to clean the camp./ 2. {informal} To speak to angrily or sharply; attack with words; scold. * /Mr. Black got angry and told off… …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • tell\ off — v 1. To name or count one by one and give some special duty to; give a share to. Five boy scouts were told off to clean the camp. 2. informal To speak to angrily or sharply; attack with words; scold. Mr. Black got angry and told off the boss.… …   Словарь американских идиом

  • tell off — PHRASAL VERB If you tell someone off, you speak to them angrily or seriously because they have done something wrong. [V n P] He never listened to us when we told him off... [V n P for n/ ing] I m always being told off for being so awkward... [V P …   English dictionary

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