Tell — Defs

01 v. t. To mention one by one, or piece by piece; to recount; to enumerate; to reckon; to number; to count; as, to tell money.

imp. & p. p. Told; p. pr. & vb. n. Telling

1.
To mention one by one, or piece by piece; to recount; to enumerate; to reckon; to number; to count; as, to tell money.
“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.

Phrases & compounds

To tell off — to count; to divide.

02 v. i. To give an account; to make report.

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.
“Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David.” — 1 Sam. xxvii. 11.

Phrases & compounds

To tell of — To speak of; to mention; to narrate or describe.

To tell on — to inform against.

03 n. That which is told; tale; account.

1.
That which is told; tale; account.[R.]
“I am at the end of my tell.” — Walpole.

04 n. A hill or mound.