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.
-
to make known by speech or writing (a fact, news, information, etc.); communicate.
- Synonyms:
- impart
-
to announce or proclaim.
-
to utter (the truth, a lie, etc.).
- Synonyms:
- speak
-
to express in words (thoughts, feelings, etc.).
-
to reveal or divulge (something secret or private).
-
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?
-
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!
-
to bid, order, or command.
Tell him to stop.
-
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.
-
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.
-
to produce a marked or severe effect.
The strain was telling on his health.
-
British Dialect. to talk or chat.
verb phrase
-
tell on to tattle on (someone).
-
tell off
-
to separate from the whole and assign to a particular duty.
-
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
-
(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
-
(tr) to communicate by words; utter
to tell the truth
-
(tr) to make known; disclose
to tell fortunes
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to serve as an indication
her blush told of her embarrassment
-
(tr; used with can, etc; may take a clause as object) to comprehend, discover, or discern
I can tell what is wrong
-
(tr; used with can, etc) to distinguish or discriminate
he couldn't tell chalk from cheese
-
(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
-
(tr) to assure
I tell you, I've had enough!
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(tr) to count (votes)
-
dialect (intr) to talk or chatter
-
informal to tell the truth no matter how unpleasant it is
-
to read the time from a clock
-
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
-
tellssimple
-
have toldperfect
-
has toldperfect
-
am tellingprogressive
-
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:
Treasury yields tell you the price of money, while credit spreads — the spread between yields on corporate debt and Treasurys with the same duration — tell you whether something is breaking.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026
"When doctors tell you that life and sports will be very limited for that child, it takes a very strong mother to say 'my son will be whatever he wants to be'," Zverev said.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
No one can tell you it won’t happen, but the odds any of us will live to see it are pretty low.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
Wildeford dismissed the idea that the common funding sources were “some giant firestorm conspiracy theory” and said AI lab employees often tell him “how afraid they are of what they are building.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
I can’t wait to tell Belle we’re going on an adventure.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Appeared in the September 8, 2026, print edition as 'An Award for Scholars Who Tell the Truth'.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 7, 2026
Tell us your thoughts using the comments form at the bottom of this page.
From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026
Tell someone you trust where it is, and make sure the original is stored somewhere safe and accessible.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 3, 2026
“It’s a really big step forward,” said Gary Wockner, director of the nonprofit Tell the Dam Truth, which submitted the petition with a coalition of groups.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
Tell him it was boring but mostly treacherous.
From "Will’s Race for Home" by Jewell Parker Rhodes
But the discounting that YouTube does tells me they are in a similar situation as DirecTV.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Then I finish with the zest of half a lemon and as much black pepper as my heart tells me is correct.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
The broader historical record tells a similar story.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026
"But over the past four or five years, we've seen the emergence of a bigger and bigger group that tells us, 'I'm not a patient, I'm not sick. I just want to lose weight'."
From Barron's ● Sep. 14, 2026
Dad tells him he made a reservation for the end of the month at Rosa Azul, the restaurant that Arlo has been hinting he wants to go to for the past year.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Johnson told reporters on Monday that he expects a meeting with AI executives at the end of this week or early next week.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026
They said teachers have told them they are pressured to use screens during the school day because standardized tests are digital.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Selan told me the hope is people will also use it to play their non-VR games too, using the headset as a screen.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
“At the end of the day, shoot for the highest rate you can get, with the institution that you know,” he told MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026
“When you first told us about Candace, I had an issue with it because I didn’t want anyone to replace Mom.”
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
I’m telling you, it’s like I couldn’t have imagined a future like this.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
Singer-songwriter Noel Gallagher recently teased the band's 2027 return - after a year off - telling TalkSport, external: "There must be something happening."
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
As long as spreads remain relatively contained, the credit market is telling us companies can still access capital without investors demanding crisis-level compensation.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026
I do remember him telling me how special John Stewart was in the universe.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
Heat rises in me again, that she was aware of everything I’m telling her, but chose to say nothing.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
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.
