Tell

Verb

 * 1)  To count or enumerate.
 * All told, there were over a dozen.
 * 1) * 1875, Hugh MacMillan, The Sunday Magazine:
 * Only He who made them can tell the number of the stars, and mark the place of each in the order of the one great dominant spiral.
 * 1) * 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.vii:
 * And in his lap a masse of coyne he told, / And turned vpsidowne, to feede his eye / A couetous desire with his huge threasury.
 * 1)  To narrate.
 * I want to tell a story.
 * I want to tell you a story.
 * 1)  To convey by speech; to say.
 * Finally, someone told him the truth.
 * He seems to like to tell lies.
 * 1)  To instruct or inform.
 * Please tell me the time.
 * 1)  To order; to direct.
 * Tell him to go away.
 * 1)  To discern, notice, identify or distinguish.
 * Can you tell whether those flowers are real or silk, from this distance?
 * No, there's no way to tell.
 * 1)  To reveal.
 * Time will tell what became of him.
 * 1)  To be revealed.
 * 2) * 1990, Stephen Coonts, Under Siege, 1991 Pocket Books edition, ISBN 0671742949, page 409:
 * Cherry looks old, Mergenthaler told himself. His age is telling. Querulous — that's the word. He's become a whining, querulous old man absorbed with trivialities.

Synonyms

 * : count
 * (to narrate): narrate, recount, relate

Antonyms

 * (to instruct or inform): ask

Derived terms

 * all told
 * tell all
 * tell-all
 * tell off


 * tell on
 * tell-tale
 * telltale
 * teller

Noun

 * 1) A reflexive, often habitual behavior, esp. one occurring in a context that often features attempts at deception by persons under psychological stress (e.g., a poker game or police interrogation), that reveals (gives away) information that the person exhibiting the behavior is attempting to withhold.

Noun

 * 1)  A mound, originally in the Middle East, over or consisting of the ruins of ancient settlements.

Adverbs for Tell
succinctly; impassively; hysterically; vehemently; conclusively; frankly; vigorously; jestingly; vividly; reluctantly; impressively; vaguely; musically; candidly; effectively; complacently; fluently; simply; circumstantially; reverently; artfully; reproachfully; accordingly; bluntly; genially; dispassionately; arrogantly; fervently; glibly; poignantly; gravely; inconsistently.

Thesaurus
acknowledge, acquaint, admit, advertise, advertise of, advise, affect, air, allegorize, amount to something, announce, apprise, approve, argue, articulate, ascertain, assert, asseverate, attest, aver, barrow, be effective, be featured, be influential, be persuasive, be prominent, be somebody, be something, berate, bespeak, betoken, betray, bid, blab, break, break it to, break the news, breathe, brief, bring out, bring to light, bring word, broadcast, call off, call over, call the roll, carry weight, castigate, censure, census, charge, chew out, chide, chime, chime in, chorus, clue, come home to, come out with, command, communicate, confess, confide, confide to, confirm, connote, convey, count, cut ice, cut some ice, declare, delineate, deliver, demonstrate, denote, depict, describe, determine, differentiate, direct, discern, disclose, discover, discriminate, display, disseminate, distinguish, divulgate, divulge, emit, enjoin, enlighten, enumerate, enunciate, evidence, evince, evulgate, exhibit, explain, express, fable, fabulize, familiarize, fictionalize, fill in, fling off, foliate, forecast, foresee, foretell, formulate, furnish evidence, get across, get over, get top billing, give, give a report, give away, give expression, give indication of, give notice, give out, give out with, give the facts, give tidings of, give tongue, give utterance, give vent to, give voice, give word, go to show, hand on, have, have an in, have full play, have influence, have personality, have pull, herald, hillock, hint at, hit, hit the mark, identify, illustrate, impart, imply, import, impress, impress forcibly, indicate, inform, instruct, intimate, involve, know, know again, leak, leave word, lecture, let get around, let in on, let know, let out, let slip, lip, make an impression, make known, make out, manifest, mark, matter, measure, mention, mention to, militate, mound, mouth, mythicize, mythify, mythologize, nail, narrate, notify, novelize, number, numerate, order, out with, outline, page, paginate, pass, pass along, pass on, peach, peg, perceive, phonate, phrase, place, point to, poll, portray, post, pour forth, predict, present, proclaim, pronounce, prophesy, publish, put, put forth, put in words, quantify, quantize, raise, rat, realize, rebuke, recall knowledge of, recite, recognize, recount, refer to, rehearse, reidentify, relate, release, render, report, reprimand, reproach, reprove, require, retell, reveal, rock, romance, rumor, run over, say, scold, send, send word, serve notice, set forth, share, share with, show, show signs of, signal, signalize, signify, sink in, smite, sound, speak, speak for itself, speak volumes, spill, spill the beans, spot, squeak, squeal, stand out, star, state, storify, strike, strike hard, strike home, suggest, swear, symptomatize, take to task, tale, talk, tally, tattle, tattle on, tell a story, tell off, tell on, tend to show, throw off, throw out, tick off, touch on, transfer, transmit, traumatize, trumpet, tumulus, understand, unfold a tale, utter, vent, ventilate, verbalize, verse, vocalize, voice, warn, weigh, whisper, word, write up

Etymology 1
From tellen:, from  tellan:, from, from , from. Cognate with tally:,  telle:,  fertelle:,  tellen:,  zellen:,  erzählen:,  telja:. More at tale.

Etymology 2
From تل:

Verb

 * American Sign Language:
 * Arabic: أخبر
 * Armenian:
 * Catalan: ,
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin: ,
 * Czech:
 * Dutch: ,
 * Finnish:
 * French:
 * German: ,


 * Hebrew: הגיד,
 * Irish:
 * Japanese:, ,
 * Latvian: stāstīt
 * Norfuk:
 * Polish:
 * Portuguese:
 * Russian: ,
 * Scottish Gaelic:
 * Swedish:, ,
 * Thai:


 * Dutch: instrueren
 * Finnish: ,
 * French:
 * German:
 * Hebrew: הגיד,


 * Irish:
 * Russian:,  ,
 * Swedish: säga åt, säga till,


 * Dutch: ,
 * Hebrew: ,


 * Russian: различать,  различить
 * Swedish: ,


 * Bulgarian: разказвам (razkazvam) (1), казвам (kazvam) (2,3), нареждам (nareždam) (3)
 * Catalan:
 * Czech: ; ;
 * Esperanto: rakonti
 * Hungarian:
 * Ido: dicar
 * Italian: ,


 * Korean: 말하다 (malhada)
 * Kurdish:
 * Latin: dīcere
 * Nahuatl: aquitoloc
 * Portuguese:
 * Romanian: ,
 * Slovene: povedati
 * Spanish: ,
 * Turkish: (declare),  (perceive), ayırmak (distinguish)