Tell

Tell, tel, v.t. to number or give an account of: to utter: to narrate: to disclose: to inform: to discern: to explain.—v.i. to give an account: to produce or take effect: to chat, gossip: to tell tales, play the informer:—pa.t. and pa.p. tōld.—adj. Tell′able, capable of being told.—ns. Tell′er, one who tells or counts: a clerk whose duty it is to receive and pay money; Tell′ership, the office of a teller.—p.adj. Tell′ing, having great effect.—adv. Tell′ingly, in a telling or effective manner.—n. Tell′-tale, one who tells tales: one who officiously tells the private concerns of others: an indication or an indicator, as an automatic instrument: a bird of genus Totanus, a tattler.—adj. given to reveal secrets, blabbing: apparent, openly seen: giving warning.—Tell off, to count off: to detach on some special duty. [A.S. tellan; Ice. telja, Ger. zählen, to number.]