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• William Tell
  William Tell

  noun

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

  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.

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.

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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.

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Example Sentences

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William Tell Tell, William

Conrad has returned to Laguna Beach where she and her husband, the Something Corporate guitarist turned attorney William Tell, are raising their two sons.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 9, 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

I think that as we listened to the William Tell Overture, we were supposed to be imagining the Lone Ranger and Tonto riding their horses through the desert.

From "Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe" by Benjamin Alire Saenz

Said the Herald-American: "Tell William . . . and let William Tell."

From Time Magazine Archive

Tell William Long to haul the boat up, and let the rowers go to deep on the shore.

From Friends, though divided A Tale of the Civil War by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

Tell William to have the carriage at the door at a quarter-past three; and do you pack my dressing-case, and the few things I shall need for two or three days' absence.

From Norine's Revenge; Sir Noel's Heir by May Agnes Fleming

Tell William and the other boys to keep their eyes open for him.

From Ruth Fielding in the Great Northwest Or, The Indian Girl Star of the Movies by Alice B. Emerson

Tell William Platt I don’t care what he does.

From A Bundle of Letters by Henry James