telltale
[tel-teyl]
- a person who heedlessly or maliciously reveals private or confidential matters; tattler; talebearer.
- a thing serving to reveal or disclose something.
- any of various indicating or registering devices, as a time clock.
- Music. a gauge on an organ for indicating the air pressure.
- an indicator showing the position of a ship's rudder.
- a row of strips hung over a track to warn train crew members on freight trains that a low bridge, tunnel, or the like is approaching.
- Yachting. (on a sailboat) a feather, string, or similar device, often attached to the port and starboard shrouds and to the backstay, to indicate the relative direction of the wind.
- Squash. a narrow piece of metal across the front wall of a court, parallel to and extending 17 inches (43.2 cm) above the base: a ball striking this is an out.
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- that reveals or betrays what is not intended to be known: a telltale blush.
- giving notice or warning of something, as a mechanical device.
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Origin of telltale
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for tell tales
blab, whisper, imply, noise, chat, dish, hint, jaw, spread, rumor, blather, prate, intimate, babble, report, prattle, chatter, repeat, tattle, suggesttelltale
- a person who tells tales about others
- an outward indication of something concealed
- (as modifier)a telltale paw mark
- any of various indicators or recording devices used to monitor a process, machine, etc
- nautical
- another word for dogvane
- one of a pair of light vanes mounted on the main shrouds of a sailing boat to indicate the apparent direction of the wind
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for tell tales
telltale
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with tell tales
tell tales
Divulge secrets, as in Don't trust him; he's apt to tell tales. This expression was first recorded about 1350. A variant, tell tales out of school, first recorded in 1530, presumably alluded to schoolchildren gossiping but was soon broadened to revealing secret or private information. Both may be obsolescent.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.