What is "tell"

Tell \Tell\ (t[e^]l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Told (t[=o]ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Telling.] [AS. tellan, from talu tale, number, speech; akin to D. tellen to count, G. z["a]hlen, OHG. zellen to count, tell, say, Icel. telja, Dan. tale to speak, t[ae]lle 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.
   --Ps. cxlvii. 4.

   Tell the joints of the body.
   --Jer. Taylor.

2. 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.

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

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

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?
   --Shak.

5. To order; to request; to command.

   He told her not to be frightened.
   --Dickens.

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.
   --Chaucer.

   Note: 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 \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.
   --Ps. xxvi. 7.

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

   1. To speak of; to mention; to narrate or describe.

   2. 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.

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

I am at the end of my tell.
--Walpole.

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

Old English tellan "to reckon, calculate, number, compute; consider, think, esteem, account" (past tense tealde, past participle teald), from Proto-Germanic *taljan "to mention in order" (cognates: Old Saxon tellian "tell," Old Norse telja "to count, number; to tell, say," Old Frisian tella "to count; to tell," Middle Dutch and Dutch tellen, Old Saxon talon "to count, reckon," Danish tale "to speak," Old High German zalon, German zählen "to count, reckon"), from PIE root *del- (2) "to count, reckon" (see tale).\n

\nMeaning "to narrate, announce, relate" in English is from c.1000; that of "to make known by speech or writing, announce" is from early 12c. Sense of "to reveal or disclose" is from c.1400; that of "to act as an informer, to 'peach' " is recorded from 1901. Meaning "to order (someone to do something)" is from 1590s. To tell (someone) off "reprimand" is from 1919.\n

\nOriginal sense in teller and phrase to tell time. For sense evolution, compare French conter "to count," raconter "to recount;" Italian contare, Spanish contar "to count, recount, narrate;" German zählen "to count," erzählen "to recount, narrate." Klein also compares Hebrew saphar "he counted," sipper "he told."

"mound, hill," 1864, from Arabic tall, related to Hebrew tel "mount, hill, heap." Compare Hebrew talul "lofty," Akkadian tillu "woman's breast."

Etymology 1 n. 1 A reflexive, often habitual behavior, (non-gloss definition: especially) one occurring in a context that often features attempts at deception by persons under psychological stress (such as a poker game or police interrogation), that reveals information that the person exhibiting the behavior is attempting to withhold. 2 That which is told; tale; account. 3 (context internet English) A private message to an individual in a chat room; a whisper. vb. 1 (lb en transitive) To count, reckon, or enumerate. 2 (lb en transitive) To narrate. Etymology 2

n. (context archaeology English) A mound, originally in the Middle East, over or consisting of the ruins of ancient settlements.

1. v. express in words; "He said that he wanted to marry her"; "tell me what is bothering you"; "state your opinion"; "state your name" [syn: state, say]

2. let something be known; "Tell them that you will be late"

3. narrate or give a detailed account of; "Tell what happened"; "The father told a story to his child" [syn: narrate, recount, recite]

4. give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority; "I said to him to go home"; "She ordered him to do the shopping"; "The mother told the child to get dressed" [syn: order, enjoin, say]

5. discern or comprehend; "He could tell that she was unhappy"

6. inform positively and with certainty and confidence; "I tell you that man is a crook!" [syn: assure]

7. give evidence; "he was telling on all his former colleague" [syn: evidence]

8. mark as different; "We distinguish several kinds of maple" [syn: distinguish, separate, differentiate, secern, secernate, severalize, severalise, tell apart]

9. [also: told]

A tell in poker is a change in a player's behavior or demeanor that is claimed by some to give clues to that player's assessment of their hand. A player gains an advantage if they observe and understand the meaning of another player's tell, particularly if the tell is unconscious and reliable. Sometimes a player may fake a tell, hoping to induce their opponents to make poor judgments in response to the false tell. More often, people try to avoid giving out a tell, by maintaining a poker face regardless of how strong or weak their hand is.

A tell or tel, from , , , is a type of archaeological mound created by human occupation and abandonment of a geographical site over many centuries. A classic tell looks like a low, truncated cone with a flat top and sloping sides. The term is mainly used of sites in the Middle East, where it often forms part of the local place name.

A tell is a type of archaeological site. Tell or tel can also refer to:

Tell is a 2012 short psychological horror film written, directed, and edited by Ryan Connolly. It is loosely based on the Edgar Allan Poe short story " The Tell-Tale Heart".

The production of this film has been the subject of many episodes of Film Riot, an internet television show hosted by Connolly. Many of the crew that worked on the film also feature in Film Riot, and the effects used in the film have been explained in detail as part of the programmes.

Tell is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include:

Given name:

• Tell Berna (1891–1975), American long-distance runner and Olympic gold medalist
• Tell Taylor (1876–1937), American songwriter

Surname:

• Christian Tell (1808–1884), Wallachian and Romanian politician
• Christine Tell, Canadian politician
• David Tell, American conservative political journalist
• Olive Tell (1894–1951), American actress
• William Tell, legendary Swiss hero
• William Tell (musician) (born 1980), American rock musician
• Zak Tell (born 1970), Swedish musician and lead singer

Tell is a 2014 crime thriller starring Katee Sackhoff, Jason Lee and Milo Ventimiglia. It is produced by Haven Entertainment, distributed by Orion Pictures, and was released on December 4.