TELL, v.t. pret. and pp. told. [L. telum; L.appello and peal, L. pello.]

1. To give an account; to make report. That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of thy wondrous works. Ps. xxvi.
2. To take effect; as, every shot tells.
3. To produce some effect; as, every expression tells. To tell of, to tell on, to inform. You must not disobey; I will tell of you if you do. This is a common popular use of the word. To tell on is quite vulgar as well as improper.

1. To utter; to express in words; to communicate to others. I will not eat till I have told my errand. Gen. xxiv.
2. To relate; to narrate; to rehearse particulars; as, to tell a story. Gen. xxxvii. And not a man appears to tell their fate. Pope.
3. To teach; to inform; to make known; to show by words. Tell us the way. Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Gen. xii.
4. To discover; to disclose; to betray. They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. Numb. xiv.
5. To count; to number. Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars. Gen. xv.
6. To relate in confession; to confess or acknowledge. Tell me now what thou hast done. Josh. vii.
7. To publish. Tell it not in Gath. 2 Sam. i.
8. To unfold; to interpret; to explain. Ezek. xxiv.
9. To make excuses. Tush, never tell me. [Not elegant.] Shak.
10. To make known. Our feelings tell us how long they ought to have submitted. Junius.
11. To discover; to find; to discern. The colors are so blended that I can not tell where one ends and the other begins. Tell, though equivalent in some respects to speak and say, has not always the same application. We say, to tell this, that or what, to tell a story, to tell a word, 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 it much used in commands. Tell me the whole story; tell me all you know, or all that was said. Tell has frequently the sense of narrate; which speak and say have not.

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. Ps. cxlvii. 4.

   Tell the joints of the body. Jer. Taylor.

2. To give an account; to make report.
   
   

   That I may publish with the voice of thankgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works. Ps. xxvi. 7.

3. That which is told] tale; account.
   
   
   [R.]

   I am at the end of my tell. Walpole.

4. A hill or mound.
   
   
   W. M. Thomson.
5. To utter or recite in detail; to give an account of; to narrate.
   
   

   Of which I shall tell all the array. Chaucer.

   And not a man appears to tell their fate. Pope.

6. 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. 1 Sam. xxvii. 11.

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

   Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? Gen. xii. 18.

8. 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? Shak.

9. To order; to request; to command.
   
   

   He told her not to be frightened. Dickens.

10. 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.
11. To make account of; to regard; to reckon; to value; to estimate.
    
    
    [Obs.]

    I ne told no dainity of her love. Chaucer.

    * 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.