William Tell

American  

noun

1. a legendary Swiss patriot forced by the Austrian governor to shoot an apple off his son's head with bow and arrow.

---

Tell, William Cultural  

1. A legendary hero of Switzerland, famous for his skill as an archer. A tyrannical official forced him to shoot an apple off his son's head.

---

Example Sentences

There were dancing human bobbleheads of opera composers Verdi, Puccini and Rossini, as if they were mascots for Team Rigoletto, Team Tosca and Team William Tell.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 6, 2026

Finally, the film gets surrealistic and even incorporates the William Tell scene from Burroughs' own life.

From Salon • Dec. 1, 2024

There is Rat Island, nothing more than a pile of rocks with a strange statue of the Swiss folk hero William Tell.

From Scientific American • Oct. 12, 2021

As the movie opens, Isaac’s character, William Tell, explains how he came to learn his trade: in military prison, where he’s been serving a sentence that only later comes fully into focus.

From Washington Post • Sep. 8, 2021

Old William Tell himself couldn’t have shot any straighter than I did.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls