tell
verb (used with object)
to give an account or narrative of; narrate; relate (a story, tale, etc.).
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tell
1 American
[tel]
/ tɛl /
verb (used with object)
-
tells,
present (3rd person singular)
-
told,
past participle, past
-
telling
present participle
-
to give an account or narrative of; narrate; relate (a story, tale, etc.).
to tell the story of Lincoln's childhood.
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to make known by speech or writing (a fact, news, information, etc.); communicate.
- Synonyms:
- impart
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to announce or proclaim.
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to utter (the truth, a lie, etc.).
- Synonyms:
- speak
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to express in words (thoughts, feelings, etc.).
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to reveal or divulge (something secret or private).
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to say plainly or positively.
I cannot tell just what was done.
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to discern or recognize (a distant person or thing) so as to be able to identify or describe.
Can you tell who that is over there?
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to distinguish; discriminate; ascertain.
You could hardly tell the difference between them.
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to inform (a person) of something.
He told me his name.
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to assure emphatically.
I won't, I tell you!
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to bid, order, or command.
Tell him to stop.
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to mention one after another, as in enumerating; count or set one by one or in exact amount.
to tell the cattle in a herd;
All told there were 17 if we are correct.
verb (used without object)
-
tells,
present (3rd person singular)
-
told,
past participle, past
-
telling
present participle
-
to give an account or report.
Tell me about your trip.
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to give evidence or be an indication.
The ruined temples told of an ancient culture, long since passed from existence.
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to disclose something secret or private; inform; tattle.
She knows who did it, but she won't tell.
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to say positively; determine; predict.
Who can tell?
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to have force or effect; operate effectively.
a contest in which every stroke tells.
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to produce a marked or severe effect.
The strain was telling on his health.
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British Dialect. to talk or chat.
verb phrase
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tell on to tattle on (someone).
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tell off
-
to separate from the whole and assign to a particular duty.
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Informal. to rebuke severely; scold.
It was about time that someone told him off.
-
idioms
tell
2
American
[tel]
/ tɛl /
noun
Tell
3
American
[tel]
/ tɛl /
noun
tell
1
British
/ tɛl /
verb
-
(when tr, may take a clause as object) to let know or notify
he told me that he would go
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(tr) to order or instruct (someone to do something)
I told her to send the letter airmail
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to give an account or narration (of something)
she told me her troubles
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(tr) to communicate by words; utter
to tell the truth
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(tr) to make known; disclose
to tell fortunes
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to serve as an indication
her blush told of her embarrassment
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(tr; used with can, etc; may take a clause as object) to comprehend, discover, or discern
I can tell what is wrong
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(tr; used with can, etc) to distinguish or discriminate
he couldn't tell chalk from cheese
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(intr) to have or produce an impact, effect, or strain
every step told on his bruised feet
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informal to reveal secrets or gossip (about)
don't tell!
she told on him
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(tr) to assure
I tell you, I've had enough!
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(tr) to count (votes)
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dialect (intr) to talk or chatter
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informal to tell the truth no matter how unpleasant it is
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to read the time from a clock
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slang I know that very well
Tell
2
British
/ tɛl /
noun
tell
3
British
/ tɛl /
noun
tell
More Idioms
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
tellsimple
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tellssimple
-
have toldperfect
-
has toldperfect
-
am tellingprogressive
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are tellingprogressive
-
is tellingprogressive
-
have been tellingperfect progressive
-
has been tellingperfect progressive
Past
-
toldsimple
-
had toldperfect
-
was tellingprogressive
-
were tellingprogressive
-
had been tellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of tell1
First recorded before 900; Middle English tellen, tel(le) “to speak, talk, say, mention,” Old English tellan “to tell, relate, count”; cognate with Dutch tellen “to reckon, count,” Old Norse telja “to count, number, say,” Old High German zellēn, German zählen “to count, number”; akin to tale
Origin of tell2
First recorded in 1860–65; from Arabic tall “hillock”
Explanation
To tell is to describe or announce something, either by speaking or writing. If you're going to be late to a movie, you should tell your friends so they can save you a seat. You might tell someone to be quiet in the library, or tell a bedtime story to your siblings. You can also tell your friend a secret or tell her secret to someone else. Informally, to tell on someone is to inform an authority about something that person did that she wasn't supposed to do. And there's also a way to use tell to mean "determine with certainty," like when you can tell it's going to rain because the sky is so dark.
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.
See Examples For:
“Whoa! We are having an earthquake. Our whole studio just shook. That was pretty big, I can tell you. The desk shook, the lights shook,” one anchor said, as an overhead light trembled slightly.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
During 26 trophy-laden years at Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson would often stop training and tell his players to look to the sky and observe the geese overhead.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
“You’re trying to tell yourself you should care about other people,” Khazan says.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
Turkish officials would later tell regional counterparts that they found no evidence Trump was ever in danger of a Manpad attack, Middle East officials said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
You can’t always tell a friend or enemy until it’s too late.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Tell me a little bit more about your chat with her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Tell the landlord the same thing, and ask if he would contact the previous tenant.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
Tell me about the earthen colors in your collections.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
In one sense, he was selling himself short: “Revolver” featured three Harrison compositions, a glut of new material that included “Taxman,” “Love You To” and “I Want to Tell You.”
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
Tell him it was boring but mostly treacherous.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
But she’s grappling with coming into her identity and feeling this gap of her internal thoughts and feelings and what society tells her to be.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Wendy’s tells Barron’s it would ‘thoroughly review any proposal submitted by Trian consistent with its fiduciary duties.’
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
He tells clients in a note that Life360 delivered second-quarter beats in most key metrics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
"People fear the environment where the shrine is. No evil will ever happen here. So, nobody fights vultures that perch here," a man they call the Vulture King tells the BBC.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
“Sadie, please don’t leave the house without telling us where you’re going,” he tells Grandma.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Josie Zayner, the founder of the company, told the Times in July that she opposed Castillo’s bill.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
In 2018, Schmidt visited Amodei and Clark’s apartment in San Francisco and was impressed with their ideas, Schmidt told Bloomberg.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
His wife Svetlana Grković Maksimović later told BBC Serbia that she and two other passengers held on to his legs for several minutes.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
"It's an indescribable moment," the 56-year-old lawyer told AFP, planting a kiss on her cat Polux's head after rescuers pulled the animal from the detritus of its owner's apartment.
From Barron's ● Aug. 13, 2026
And before signing off, I told her how much I loved her.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
The investment bank’s analysts lower their recommendation to neutral from buy, telling clients in a note that they see only moderate value with shares of the Australian market operator trading at 23 times earnings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Now it’s like word of a mouth and just watercooler or just the algorithm telling you what to like.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
In its place, Bessent said, America now has a “C economy,” in which lower wage earners are, in his telling, finally clawing their way back.
From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2026
American football player Travis Kelce has reflected on his wedding to Taylor Swift, telling US media that their New York nuptials were "the best night of my life".
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
“You’re telling me those kids out there are, what —ghosts?”
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
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.
