English dictionary



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English noun: Tell

1. Tell (person) a Swiss patriot who lived in the early 14th century and who was renowned for his skill as an archer; according to legend an Austrian governor compelled him to shoot an apple from his son's head with his crossbow (which he did successfully without mishap)


SynonymsWilliam Tell


Instance hypernymarcher, bowman


English verb: tell

1. tell (communication) express in words


SamplesHe said that he wanted to marry her.
Tell me what is bothering you.
State your opinion.
State your name.


ExamplesThey tell that there was a traffic accident


Synonymssay, state


Pattern of useSomebody ----s something.
Something ----s something.
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE


Broader (hypernym)express, give tongue to, utter, verbalise, verbalize


Narrower (hyponym)add, announce, answer, append, articulate, declare, declare, declare, enunciate, explain, get out, give, introduce, lay out, mention, misstate, note, observe, precede, preface, premise, present, remark, reply, represent, respond, sum, sum up, summarise, summarize, supply, vocalise, vocalize


Verb groupsay

2. tell (communication) let something be known


SamplesTell them that you will be late.


Pattern of useSomebody ----s that CLAUSE


Broader (hypernym)inform


Narrower (hyponym)air, announce, annunciate, bare, bespeak, betoken, break, bring out, digress, disclose, discover, divagate, divulge, expose, foretell, give, give away, harbinger, herald, impart, indicate, ingeminate, iterate, leave, let on, let out, pass on, point, propagandise, propagandize, publicise, publicize, reiterate, repeat, restate, retell, reveal, signal, spill, stray, talk, unwrap, wander

3. tell (communication) narrate or give a detailed account of


SamplesTell what happened.
The father told a story to his child.


ExamplesThey won't tell the story


Synonymsnarrate, recite, recount


Pattern of useSomebody ----s something.
Something ----s something.
Somebody ----s somebody something.
Somebody ----s something to somebody


Broader (hypernym)inform


Narrower (hyponym)crack, relate, rhapsodise, rhapsodize, yarn

4. tell (communication) give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority


SamplesI said to him to go home.
She ordered him to do the shopping.
The mother told the child to get dressed.


ExamplesThey tell him to write the letter


Synonymsenjoin, order, say


Pattern of useSomebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE.
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE


Broader (hypernym)request


Narrower (hyponym)call, command, direct, instruct, require, send for, warn

5. tell (cognition) discern or comprehend


SamplesHe could tell that she was unhappy.


Pattern of useSomebody ----s.
Somebody ----s something.
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE


Broader (hypernym)guess, infer

6. tell (communication) inform positively and with certainty and confidence


SamplesI tell you that man is a crook!.


Synonymsassure


Pattern of useSomebody ----s somebody of something.
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE


Broader (hypernym)affirm, assert, aver, avow, swan, swear, verify

7. tell (communication) give evidence


SamplesHe was telling on all his former colleague.


Synonymsevidence


Pattern of useSomebody ----s


Broader (hypernym)inform

8. tell (cognition) mark as different


SamplesWe distinguish several kinds of maple.


Synonymsdifferentiate, distinguish, secern, secernate, separate, severalise, severalize, tell apart


Pattern of useSomebody ----s something.
Somebody ----s somebody.
Somebody ----s something from somebody


Broader (hypernym)identify, place


Narrower (hyponym)contradistinguish, contrast, decouple, demarcate, discriminate, discriminate, dissociate, individualise, individualize, know, know apart, label, label, separate, severalise, severalize, sex, single out, stratify


Entailcompare









Based on WordNet 3.0 copyright © Princeton University.
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