Meaning of tell in English

tell

verb

/tel/ us

/tel/

told | told

tell verb (SPEAK)

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A1 [ T ]

to say something to someone, often giving them information or instructions:

Tell me about your holiday then.

[ + two objects ] Can you tell me how to get to the library?

[ + obj + (that) ] Did you tell anyone (that) you were coming to see me?

[ + obj + speech ] "I'm leaving you," she told him.

[ + obj + to infinitive ] I told her to go home.

formal He told us of his extraordinary childhood.

I can't tell you how grateful I am for your help (= I am extremely grateful).

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

to tell someone something

tellMy friend told me you were looking for me.
let someone knowLet me know if you'd like to come.
giveCan you give the message to Jo?
communicateA 60-second TV commercial isn't always the best way to communicate a complex medical message.
informThe relatives of the injured have been informed of the accident.
notifyThe school has to notify parents if their children do not arrive at school.

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tell a lie/lies

to say something/things that are not true:

She's always telling lies.

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

to say something not true in order to deceive

lieAll she does is lie - you can't believe a word she says.
tell a lieI cannot tell a lie: I chopped down the cherry tree.
lie through your teethHe lied through his teeth that he didn't go to the cinema, though he was still holding the ticket stub in his hand as he said it.
fibI don't like fibbing, but I didn't want to hurt his feelings by saying his gift was awful.
misleadI'm afraid you've been misled. She is, in fact, married.
deludeHe's deluding himself if he thinks that he's getting that promotion.

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tell it like it is informal

to tell the facts without hiding anything

tell tales disapproving

If someone, usually a child, tells tales, they tell someone such as a teacher about something bad that someone else has done:

Your classmates won't trust you if you're always telling tales, Alvin.

See also

telltale

tell the truth

to speak honestly:

How do you know she's telling the truth?

to tell (you) the truth

to be honest:

To tell (you) the truth, I didn't understand a word of what he was saying.

More examplesFewer examples

They wouldn't tell me how they had got my address.
I felt it was my duty to tell them the truth.
Gather (a)round, children, and I'll tell you a story.
The doctor told me to avoid fatty foods.
No-one told me she was ill.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Announcing, informing & stating

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Lies, lying & hypocrisy

Blunt and direct in speech & behaviour

Revealing secrets & becoming known

Honesty, openness & sincerity

tell verb (KNOW)

B2 [ I or T ]

to know, recognize, or be certain:

"He's Dutch." "How can you tell?"

[ + (that) ] I could tell (that) you were unhappy.

B2 [ T ]

If something tells you something, it gives you information:

What does the survey tell us about the lives of teenagers?

tell the difference

to notice a difference in quality between two things:

This coffee is about half the price of that one and yet you really can't tell the difference.

tell someone's fortune (also tell fortunes)

to say what will happen in someone's future:

At the fair, there was a lady who told your fortune.

tell the time UK (US tell time)

to be able to understand a clock:

My daughter has just learned to tell the time.

there is no telling

there is no way of knowing:

There is no telling what the future will hold for them.

you never can tell B2 (also you can never tell)

said to mean that you can never know or be certain:

Who knows what will happen to Peter and me in the future - you can never tell.

More examplesFewer examples

I could tell from her expression that something serious had happened.
You can tell it's autumn because the leaves have started to fall.
Who can tell what the future holds?
Can you tell the the difference between poisonous mushrooms and edible varieties?
I could tell he was really upset, though he tried not to show it.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Learning & knowing

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Announcing, informing & stating

Identifying

Predicting things and intuition

Watches & clocks

Uncertainty

tell verb (HAVE AN EFFECT)

[ I ]

to have an effect:

She's been under a lot of stress recently and it's starting to tell.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Causing things to happen

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Grammar

Say or tell?

Say and tell are irregular verbs. The past simple of say is said, the past simple of tell is told: …

Say and tell with objects

Both say and tell take a direct object. The object is most commonly the reported clause (the report of what someone said). …

Tell + indirect object + to-infinitive

We use tell with an indirect object and a to-infinitive to report a command or an instruction. We don’t normally use say in this way: …

Idioms

I'm telling you
(I) told you (so)!
(I'll) tell you what
tell me about it!
tell me another one!
you're telling me!

Phrasal verbs

tell against someone/something
tell something/someone apart
tell someone off
tell on someone

tell

noun [ C ]

uk/tel/ us/tel/

(in the game of poker) something that a player does without thinking about it that may give the other players information about what he or she intends to do, etc. :

If you are good at reading poker tells, you can usefully store them in your memory for future use.

something that someone does without thinking that shows what they are really thinking, especially if they are trying to deceive you:

My boss, like so many company leaders, has a tell when he is about to announce bad news — he smiles weakly.

More examplesFewer examples

I don't think he was a good enough player to pick up on the fact that I had noticed his tell.
She was eventually alerted to her tell and then she had to try to stop herself doing it.
He soon realized that his tell had been spotted.
Her tell was that she looked away when she was about to say something disappointing.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Card games

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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Lies, lying & hypocrisy

(Definition of tell from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

tell | American Dictionary

tell

verb

/tel/

past tense and past participle told us/toʊld/

tell verb (SAY)

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[ I/T ]

to say something to someone, esp. to give instructions or information; report:

[ T ] Can you tell me how to get to the bus station?

[ I ] She told about her travels overseas.

tell verb (SHOW)

[ T ]

to show or give information in ways other than talking:

This light tells you when the battery is low.

tell verb (ORDER)

[ T ]

to order someone to do something:

I told you to be home by eleven.

tell verb (KNOW)

[ I/T ]

to know or recognize:

[ I ] It’s hard to tell which is better.

[ T ] It’s easy to tell a robin by its red breast.

[ + (that) clause ] I could tell that you were unhappy.

[ T ] This one is supposed to be better, but how can you tell the difference?

Idioms

I’m telling you
tell it like it is
tell me about it
tell (someone) the truth
(I) tell you what
tell time
to tell (you) the truth

Phrasal verbs

tell someone/something apart
tell off someone
tell on someone

(Definition of tell from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of tell

tell

The children were told they would be shown two pictures, and that the experimenter would say a description of one of the pictures.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

They were told that the study was designed to examine social interaction processes.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A doctor told him that this condition was caused by excess consumption of roasted and fried food.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

A telling example-of importance for the study reported below-involves (thematic) verb raising.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Afterwards they [children] accused us of telling lies and didn't bother us anymore.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

He was told that he was being let off with this minor punishment because this was his first offence.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

All are concerned with telling the story of her life.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The doctor tells her husband that she is not a wife but an angel [firishta].

From the Cambridge English Corpus

We also agree with the authors that what subjects are told about a task can be of central importance, even when deception is not involved.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The analogy to medicine is telling here, as well.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

No doubt there is some revised physiological story to be told.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The story is told that there are two personalities among psychologists, optimists and pessimists, who see the glass as half full or half empty, respectively.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

He confirmed what other people in the neighbourhood have repeatedly told me.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Compared to the abundant use of such items in sites postdating 50,000 this absence is telling.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

I entirely agree, but only because this is a true story told from a first-person perspective, which does not, unfortunately, escape epiphenomenalism.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all examples of tell

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

What is the pronunciation of tell?

A1,B2,B2,C1,B2

Translations of tell

in Chinese (Traditional)

講述, 講述，說, 告訴…

Meaning of tell in English

tell verb (SPEAK)

tell verb (KNOW)

tell verb (HAVE AN EFFECT)

Grammar

Idioms

Phrasal verbs

tell | American Dictionary

tell verb (SAY)

tell verb (SHOW)

tell verb (ORDER)

tell verb (KNOW)

Idioms

Phrasal verbs

Examples of tell

Translations of tell

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