Tell

Tell, n. [Ar.] A hill or mound. W. M. Thomson.

Tell, n. That which is told; tale; account. [R.]

I am at the end of my tell.

Tell (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Told (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Telling.] [AS. tellan, from talu tale, number, speech; akin to D. tellen to count, G. zählen, OHG. zellen to count, tell, say, Icel. telja, Dan. tale to speak, tælle to count. See Tale that which is told.] 1. To mention one by one, or piece by piece; to recount; to enumerate; to reckon; to number; to count; as, to tell money. "An heap of coin he told." Spenser.

He telleth the number of the stars.

Tell the joints of the body.

2. To utter or recite in detail; to give an account of; to narrate.

Of which I shall tell all the array.

And not a man appears to tell their fate.

3. To make known; to publish; to disclose; to divulge.

Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?

4. To give instruction to; to make report to; to acquaint; to teach; to inform.

A secret pilgrimage,
That you to-day promised to tell me of?

5. To order; to request; to command.

He told her not to be frightened.

6. To discern so as to report; to ascertain by observing; to find out; to discover; as, I can not tell where one color ends and the other begins.

7. To make account of; to regard; to reckon; to value; to estimate. [Obs.]

I ne told no dainity of her love.

☞ Tell, though equivalent in some respect to speak and say, has not always the same application. We say, to tell truth or falsehood, to tell a number, to tell the reasons, to tell something or nothing; but we never say, to tell a speech, discourse, or oration, or to tell an argument or a lesson. It is much used in commands; as, tell me the whole story; tell me all you know.

To tell off, to count; to divide. Sir W. Scott.

Syn. -- To communicate; impart; reveal; disclose; inform; acquaint; report; repeat; rehearse; recite.

Tell, v. i. 1. To give an account; to make report.

That I may publish with the voice of thankgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.

2. To take effect; to produce a marked effect; as, every shot tells; every expression tells.

To tell of. (a) To speak of; to mention; to narrate or describe. (b) To inform against; to disclose some fault of. -- To tell on, to inform against. [Archaic & Colloq.]

Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David.