<B>tell</B> (1), verb, <B>told,</B> <B>telling.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to put in words; find a way of expressing; say; utter; express. <BR> <I>Ex. Tell the truth. I can't tell you how much I liked it.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to give an account of; narrate; relate; report. <BR> <I>Ex. Tell us a story.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to make known in words; communicate. <BR> <I>Ex. Tell him the news. He said much but told little.</I> (SYN) mention. <DD><B> 4. </B>to inform; let know. <BR> <I>Ex. They told us the way at the station.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>to disclose (private matters); reveal (a secret). <BR> <I>Ex. Promise not to tell this.</I> (SYN) divulge. <DD><B> 6. </B>to order (a person to do something); say to; direct; command. <BR> <I>Ex. Do as you are told. Tell him to wait.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>to say with assurance; be positive about. <BR> <I>Ex. I couldn't tell exactly when he came.</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>to recognize well enough to identify; discern. <BR> <I>Ex. He couldn't tell which house it was.</I> <DD><B> 9. </B>to understand the difference between; distinguish; discriminate. <BR> <I>Ex. He can't tell one twin from another.</I> <DD><B> 10. </B>to count one by one; count off; count over. <BR> <I>Ex. The nun tells her beads.</I> <DD><B> 11. </B>to count (votes or voters). <DD><B> 12. </B>(Archaic.) to declare formally or state publicly; announce; proclaim; publish. <BR> <I>Ex. Tell it not in Gath (II Samuel 1:20).</I> <DD><B> 13. </B>(Archaic.) to reckon up the number of; count up. <BR> <I>Ex. He could not tell twenty in English (Daniel Defoe).</I> <DD><B> 14. </B>(Obsolete.) to reveal. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to act as talebearer; report secrets; blab; tattle. <BR> <I>Ex. Promise not to tell.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to be effective; count for something; have an effect or force. <BR> <I>Ex. Every blow told.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(British Dialect.) to talk idly without acting. <BR><I>expr. <B>don't tell me,</B> </I>an expression of incredulity or impatience. <BR> <I>Ex. Error of judgment! don't tell me. I know how these things happen quite well (Cardinal Newman).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>I</B> (<B>can</B>) <B>tell you,</B> </I>yes, indeed; I emphasize. <BR> <I>Ex. I tell you, it got on my nerves (F. Young).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>let me tell you,</B> </I>yes, indeed; I emphasize. <BR> <I>Ex. Let me tell you, I am not to be persuaded by metaphysical arguments (Bishop Berkeley).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>tell good-by,</B> </I>(U.S.) to say good-by to. <BR> <I>Ex. She told me to tell you good-by (Booth Tarkington).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>tell it like it is,</B> </I>(U.S. Slang.) to tell the truth, no matter how unpleasant. <BR> <I>Ex. The [TV] series' intention ... is "to tell it like it is for the young people while remaining palatable to older audiences" (Time).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>tell me another,</B> </I>an expression of incredulity or irony. <BR> <I>Ex. You forgot to bring your money. Indeed! Tell me another.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>tell of,</B> </I>to be an indication or sign of; show. <BR> <I>Ex. His hard hands and sinewy sunburnt limbs told of labour and endurance (Charles Kingsley).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>tell off,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>to count off; count off and detach for some special duty. </I> <I>Ex. Ten knights were then told off, and ten followers for every knight, to ride down to Doncaster (James A. Froude).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(Informal.) to strike back sharply; reprimand; scold; reprove. <BR> <I>Ex. Monty came to see me and I had to tell him off for falling foul of both the King and the Secretary of State (Maclean's).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>tell on,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>to inform on; tell tales about. </I> <I>Ex. Promise not to tell on me.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative.) to have a harmful effect on; break down. <BR> <I>Ex. The strain told on the man's heart.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="tell">
<B>tell</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an artificial hillock or mound, usually one covering the ruins of an ancient city. <BR> <I>Ex. Some Palestinian tells are 70 ft. thick and contain dozens of different layers of debris (Time).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="tell">
<B>Tell, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> <B>William,</B> a legendary hero in the Swiss struggle for independence against Austria. </DL>
<A NAME="tellable">
<B>tellable, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be told; worth telling. noun <B>tellableness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="tellably">
<B>tellably, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> in a manner that is tellable; so as to be tellable. </DL>
<A NAME="tellall">
<B>tell-all, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S.) revealing everything, including damaging or confidential information. <BR> <I>Ex. a tell-all memoir.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="teller">
<B>teller, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person who tells, especially a story; narrator. <BR> <I>Ex. Our teacher is a good teller of stories.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a person who counts, especially: <DD><B> a. </B>a bank cashier who takes in, gives out, and counts money. <DD><B> b. </B>an official who counts votes, especially in a legislature. </DL>
<A NAME="tellership">
<B>tellership, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the office or post of teller; a position as teller. </DL>
<A NAME="telling">
<B>telling, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> having effect or force; striking. <BR> <I>Ex. a telling blow. He is a master of a singularly lucid ... and telling style (Times Literary Supplement).</I> (SYN) effective, potent, forceful. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>the act of relating or making known. <BR> <I>Ex. something beautiful beyond all telling. The narrative loses nothing in the telling (Athenaeum).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the act of counting. <BR> <I>Ex. This mixed telling did not mean mixed voting (Scotsman).</I> adv. <B>tellingly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="tellingoff">
<B>telling-off, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) a scolding; rebuke. </DL>
<A NAME="telltale">
<B>telltale, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a person who tells tales on others; person who reveals private or secret matters from malice. (SYN) talebearer, tattler. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) a warning sign; indication. <DD><B> 3. </B>any one of various indicators or recording instruments, such as a time clock. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Music.) an indicator of the pressure of the air supply to an organ. <DD><B> 5. </B>a row of ribbons hung over a track before a tunnel, bridge, or other low structure, to warn trainmen off the roofs of cars. <DD><B> 6. </B>(Nautical.) a device above deck to indicate the rudder's position. <DD><B> 7. </B>(in squash and racquets) a metal strip across the front wall of the court that may not be hit with the ball. The squash telltale is 17 inches high, the racquets telltale 27. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>telling what is not supposed to be told; revealing. <BR> <I>Ex. a telltale fingerprint.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>showing, signaling, or warning of something. </DL>
<A NAME="tellurate">
<B>tellurate, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Chemistry.) a salt of telluric acid with a maximum of oxygen. </DL>
<A NAME="tellurian">
<B>tellurian</B> (1), adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>having to do with the earth. <DD><B> 2. </B>earthly; terrestrial. <DD><I>noun </I> an inhabitant of the earth. <BR> <I>Ex. Our own case, the case of poor mediocre tellurians (Thomas De Quincey).</I> </DL>
<B>telluric</B> (1), adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of the earth; terrestrial. <DD><B> 2. </B>arising from the soil; of earth. </DL>
<A NAME="telluric">
<B>telluric</B> (2), adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Chemistry.) <DD><B> 1. </B>having to do with tellurium. <DD><B> 2. </B>containing tellurium, especially with a valence of six. </DL>
<A NAME="telluricacid">
<B>telluric acid,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an acid containing tellurium with a valence of six, obtained by oxidizing tellurium or its oxide. </DL>
<A NAME="tellurid">
<B>tellurid, </B>noun. <B>=telluride.</B></DL>
<A NAME="telluride">
<B>telluride, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a compound of tellurium with an electropositive element or radical. </DL>
<A NAME="telluriferous">
<B>telluriferous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> containing or yielding tellurium. </DL>
<A NAME="tellurion">
<B>tellurion, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a model of the moving earth and the sun, showing how day and night and the changes in the seasons result from the earth's revolution about the sun. </DL>
<A NAME="tellurite">
<B>tellurite, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Chemistry.) a salt of tellurous acid, containing less oxygen than a tellurate. <DD><B> 2. </B>a mineral, a native dioxide of tellurium, usually found in clusters of minute, whitish or yellowish crystals. </DL>
<A NAME="tellurium">
<B>tellurium, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> silver-white, nonmetallic chemical element with some metallic properties. It is poisonous, brittle unless extremely pure, and similar to sulfur and selenium chemically. It usually occurs in nature combined with gold, silver, or various other metals. Tellurium is used as a coloring agent in ceramics. </DL>
<A NAME="tellurize">
<B>tellurize, </B>transitive verb, <B>-rized,</B> <B>-rizing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to combine or treat with tellurium. </DL>
<A NAME="tellurometer">
<B>tellurometer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an electronic device for measuring distances by the time it takes a radio microwave to travel from one point to another and back. </DL>
<A NAME="tellurous">
<B>tellurous, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>of tellurium. <DD><B> 2. </B>containing tellurium, especially with a valence of four. </DL>
<A NAME="tellurousacid">
<B>tellurous acid,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an acid containing tellurium with a valence of four. It is a white, water-soluble powder. </DL>
<A NAME="tellus">
<B>Tellus, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Roman Mythology.) an ancient goddess who blessed crops and marriage. </DL>
