tell time

Idioms  

1. Keep track of the hours; also, know how to read a clock or watch. For example, This old clock still tells time quite accurately, or He taught his niece to tell time by using a cuckoo clock. This expression uses tell in the sense of “reckon” or “calculate,” a usage dating from about a.d. 1000.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tell time

These humble devices, which surged into mass production in the first half of the 20th century, had two jobs: tell time and wake you up.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026

Combined, the two features helped the religious figures using the site to tell time more exactly.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 22, 2023

He championed the clocks as “a forgotten urban jewel” that tell time and are fanciful.

From Seattle Times ● May 4, 2023

My grandparents were the ones who took care of me after school, who cooked me tomato egg with rice, who taught me how to count to 10 and how to tell time in Mandarin.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 9, 2023

“But we don’t need them for what we’re going to see now. I’m going to show you how to tell time by the Big Dipper and the North Star. Can you find the Dipper?”

From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham