What is "to tell off"

Off \Off\ ([o^]f; 115), adv. [OE. of, orig. the same word as R. of, prep., AS. of, adv. & prep. [root]194. See Of.] In a general sense, denoting from or away from; as:

1. Denoting distance or separation; as, the house is a mile off.

2. Denoting the action of removing or separating; separation; as, to take off the hat or cloak; to cut off, to pare off, to clip off, to peel off, to tear off, to march off, to fly off, and the like.

3. Denoting a leaving, abandonment, departure, abatement, interruption, or remission; as, the fever goes off; the pain goes off; the game is off; all bets are off.

4. Denoting a different direction; not on or towards: away; as, to look off.

5. Denoting opposition or negation. [Obs.]

   The questions no way touch upon puritanism, either off or on.
   --Bp. Sanderson.

   From off, off from; off. ``A live coal . . . taken with the tongs from off the altar.''
   --Is. vi.

6. Off and on.

   1. Not constantly; not regularly; now and then; occasionally.

   2. (Naut.) On different tacks, now toward, and now away from, the land. To be off.

      1. To depart; to escape; as, he was off without a moment's warning.

      2. To be abandoned, as an agreement or purpose; as, the bet was declared to be off. [Colloq.] To come off, To cut off, To fall off, To go off, etc. See under Come, Cut, Fall, Go, etc. To get off.

         1. To utter; to discharge; as, to get off a joke.

         2. To go away; to escape; as, to get off easily from a trial. [Colloq.] To take off To do a take-off on, To take off, to mimic, lampoon, or impersonate. To tell off

            1. (Mil.), to divide and practice a regiment or company in the several formations, preparatory to marching to the general parade for field exercises.
               --Farrow.

            2. to rebuke (a person) for an improper action; to scold; to reprimand.

               To be well off, to be in good condition.

               To be ill off, To be badly off, to be in poor condition.

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.