4 VERB If you telex a message to someone, you send it to them by telex. □ [V n + to ] The embassy says it has telexed their demands to the foreign ministry. □ [V n] They telexed their parents.
tell ◆◆◆ /te l/ (tells , telling , told )
1 VERB If you tell someone something, you give them information. □ [V n that] In the evening I returned to tell Phyllis our relationship was over. □ [V n wh] I called Andie to tell her how spectacular the stuff looked. □ [V n n] Claire had made me promise to tell her the truth. □ [V n + to ] I only told the truth to the press when the single was released. □ [V n + about ] Tell us about your moment on the summit. □ [V with quote] Her voice breaking with emotion, she told him: 'It doesn't seem fair.' [Also V of n]
2 VERB If you tell something such as a joke, a story, or your personal experiences, you communicate it to other people using speech. □ [V n] His friends say he was always quick to tell a joke. □ [V n + to ] He told his story to The Sunday Times and produced photographs. □ [V n n] Will you tell me a story?
3 VERB If you tell someone to do something, you order or advise them to do it. □ [V n to-inf] A passer-by told the driver to move his car so that it was not causing an obstruction.
4 VERB If you tell yourself something, you put it into words in your own mind because you need to encourage or persuade yourself about something. □ [V pron-refl with quote] 'Come on,' she told herself. □ [V pron-refl that] I told myself that I would be satisfied with whatever I could get.
5 VERB [no cont] If you can tell what is happening or what is true, you are able to judge correctly what is happening or what is true. □ [V wh] It was already impossible to tell where the bullet had entered. □ [V that] You can tell he's joking.
6 VERB [no cont] If you can tell one thing from another, you are able to recognize the difference between it and other similar things. □ [V n + between ] I can't really tell the difference between their policies and ours. □ [V n + from ] How do you tell one from another? □ [V wh] I had to look twice to tell which was Martin; the twins were almost identical.
7 VERB If you tell , you reveal or give away a secret. [INFORMAL ] □ [V ] Many of the children know who they are but are not telling.
8 VERB If facts or events tell you something, they reveal certain information to you through ways other than speech. □ [V n that] The facts tell us that this is not true. □ [V n amount] I don't think the unemployment rate ever tells us much about the future. □ [V n n] The evidence of our eyes tells us a different story. □ [V n] While most of us feel complacent about our diets, the facts tell a very different story.
9 VERB If an unpleasant or tiring experience begins to tell , it begins to have a serious effect. □ [V ] The pressure began to tell as rain closed in after 20 laps.
10 → see also kiss-and-tell , telling
11 PHRASE You use as far as I can tell or so far as I could tell to indicate that what you are saying is based on the information you have, but that there may be things you do not know. [VAGUENESS ] □ As far as I can tell, Jason is basically a nice guy.
12 CONVENTION You can say ' I tell you ', ' I can tell you ', or ' I can't tell you ' to add emphasis to what you are saying. [INFORMAL , EMPHASIS ] □ I tell you this, I will not rest until that day has come. □ This little letter gave us a few chuckles, I can tell you.
13 CONVENTION If you say ' You never can tell ', you mean that the future is always uncertain and it is never possible to know exactly what will happen. □ You never can tell what life is going to bring you.
14 CONVENTION If someone disagrees with you or refuses to do what you suggest and you are eventually proved to be right, you can say ' I told you so '. [INFORMAL ] □ If she failed, her mother would say, 'I told you so.'
15 CONVENTION You use I'll tell you what or I tell you what to introduce a suggestion or a new topic of conversation. [SPOKEN ] □ I tell you what, I'll bring the water in a separate glass.
16 to tell the time → see time
17 time will tell → see time
▸ tell apart PHRASAL VERB If you can tell people or things apart , you are able to recognize the differences between them and can therefore identify each of them. □ [V n P ] The almost universal use of flavourings makes it hard to tell the products apart.
▸ tell off PHRASAL VERB If you tell someone off , you speak to them angrily or seriously because they have done something wrong. □ [V n P ] He never listened to us when we told him off. □ [be V -ed + for ] I'm always being told off for being so awkward. □ [V P n] Dutch police told off two of the gang, aged 10 and 11.
▸ tell on PHRASAL VERB If you tell on someone, you give information about them to a person in authority, especially if they have done something wrong. [INFORMAL ] □ [V P n] Never mind, I won't tell on you. □ [V n P n] I'll tell my mummy on you. USAGE tell
Don’t use ‘to’ after tell
. Don’t say, for example ‘
tell|er /te lə r / (tellers ) N‑COUNT A teller is someone who works in a bank and who customers pay money to or get money from. [mainly AM or SCOTTISH ]
tell|ing /te l I ŋ/ (tellings )