tattle
Americanverb (used without object)
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to let out secrets.
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to chatter, prate, or gossip.
verb (used with object)
noun
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the act of tattling.
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idle talk; chatter; gossip.
verb
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(intr) to gossip about another's personal matters or secrets
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(tr) to reveal by gossiping
to tattle a person's secrets
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(intr) to talk idly; chat
noun
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the act or an instance of tattling
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a scandalmonger or gossip
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has tattledperfect 3rd person singular
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have tattledperfect
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has been tattlingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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are tattlingprogressive
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is tattlingprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been tattlingperfect progressive
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tattlingparticiple
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am tattlingprogressive 1st person singular
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tattlessingular 3rd person
Past
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had tattledperfect
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was tattlingprogressive singular
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had been tattlingperfect progressive
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tattledsimple
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were tattlingprogressive plural
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tattledparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of tattle
1475–85; < Dutch tatelen; cognate with Middle Low German tatelen
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But the choice not to tattle on him is simple, and in fact the only straightforward thing about the whole scenario.
From Washington Post • Apr. 5, 2023
He said clarity was required as to whether someone might be aware of IRA membership or if their knowledge may be based on "tittle tattle".
From BBC • Mar. 1, 2023
“If Walls Could Talk” they might tattle on the home healthcare worker a woman hires to look after her widowed mother in this new TV movie.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2022
And if you have to dig out the recipes again in June, well, I'm not about to tattle on you.
From Salon • Dec. 20, 2021
“You see, they want me to tattle on a friend of mine. Someone I got to know really well. After you left” “Tattle? Don’t tell me this is all about some ugly-trick.”
From "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
