tell off

British  

verb

1. informal to reprimand; scold

   they told me off for stealing apples

2. to count and dismiss

   he told off four more soldiers

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tell off Idioms  

1. Rebuke severely, reprimand, as in It's time someone told her off about her behavior. There is also a synonymous expression, tell someone where to get off, as in When he called back a third time, I told him where to get off. [Colloquial; early 1900s] Also see get off, def. 7.

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Other Word Forms

• telling off
  noun

Example Sentences

Tell off every tenth man of your tribes for a Frontier guard, and send two hundred at a time to this valley to be drilled.

From The Man Who Would Be King by Kipling, Rudyard

Tell off your own bombing parties; make your own dispositions; send me a copy of your provisional orders; and I will fit my plan in with yours.

From All in It : K(1) Carries On A Continuation of the First Hundred Thousand by Hay, Ian

Tell off a party to bring in the C.O.,

From The First Hundred Thousand by Hay, Ian

Tell off a couple of hands to guard the prisoners and another half-dozen to wait outside in case there is any trouble.

From Rounding up the Raider A Naval Story of the Great War by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)

Tell off three yeomen to wait at table. xiii.

From Early English Meals and Manners by Furnivall, Frederick James