Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
tell (verb)transitive verb
1.
- count enumerate tell the stars, if thou be able to number them Genesis 15:5(Authorized Version)
2.
a) to relate in detail - narrate told the whole story to us
b) to give utterance to - say could never tell a lie
3.
a) to make known - divulge reveal don't tell your password
b) to express in words - she never told her love Shakespeare
4.
a) to give information to - inform tell us about your job
b) to assure emphatically - they did not do it, I tell you
5.
- order direct told me to wait
6.
intransitive verb
to find out by observing - recognize you can tell it's a masterpiece
1.
to give an account - an article telling of her experience
2.
to act as an informer - often used with on I'll get even with you if you ever tell on me Inside Detective
3.
to have a marked effect - the pressure was beginning to tell on him
4.
to serve as evidence or indication reveal
- hill mound , specifically an ancient mound in the Middle East composed of remains of successive settlements
Merriam-Webster Online Thesaurus
tell (verb)1.
to give an oral or written account of in some detail
SYNONIMS:
chart, chronicle, describe, narrate, recite, recount, rehearse, relate, reportRELATED WORDS:
deliver, give, reel off, state, utter, voice; detail, enumerate, itemize, particularize; bare, disclose, divulge, expose, let on (about), reveal; delineate, depict, express, render, sketch2.
to express (a thought or emotion) in words
SYNONIMS:
articulate, bring out, enunciate, pass, speak, state, talk, tell, utter, verbalize, vocalizeRELATED WORDS:
air, discuss, give, look, share, sound, vent, ventilate, voice; blabber, bolt, blurt, get off, shoot; advertise, announce, blaze, broadcast, declare, post, proclaim, promulgate, publicize, publish; affirm, allege, assert, aver, avouch, avow; breathe, chirp, drawl, gasp, lip, mouth, murmur, purr, shout, splutter, spout, whisper; clothe, couch, formulate, formulize, phrase, put, word; comment, pipe up (with), remark; rip (out), snarlNEAR ANTONYMS:
stifle, suppress3.
to find the sum of (a collection of things) by noting each one as it is being added
SYNONIMS:
enumerate, number, tellRELATED WORDS:
add (up), tally, total; calculate, compute, reckon, table, tabulate; check, mark, tick (off); recount4.
to give information to
SYNONIMS:
acquaint, advise, apprise, brief, catch up, clear, clue (in), familiarize, fill in, hip, inform, instruct, tell, verse, wise (up)RELATED WORDS:
advertise, alert, notify; announce (to), disclose (to); assure, certify, convince, reassure, warrant; educate, lecture, school, teach, tutor; disabuse, disenchant, disillusion, undeceiveNEAR ANTONYMS:
misinform, mislead5.
to issue orders to (someone) by right of authority
SYNONIMS:
adjure, bid, boss (around), charge, direct, enjoin, instruct, order, tellRELATED WORDS:
ask, petition, request; beg, beseech, entreat; advise, counsel, warn; appoint, assign, authorize, commission; oversee, superintend, supervise; conduct, control, lead, manage; coerce, compel, constrain, force, oblige, requireNEAR ANTONYMS:
comply (with), follow, keep, observe6.
to make known (as information previously kept secret)
SYNONIMS:
bare, disclose, discover, divulge, expose, let on (about), spill, tell, unbosom, uncloak, uncover, unmask, unveilRELATED WORDS:
confide, share; debunk, show up; unclothe, undrape; advertise, announce, blaze, bring out, broadcast, declare, placard, post, proclaim, promulgate, publicize, publish, sound; betray, blab, give away, leak; inform, squeal, talk; communicate, impart, relate; acknowledge, admit, avow, concede, confess, own; disinter, rake up, smoke out, unearthNEAR ANTONYMS:
camouflage, disguise; gild, gloss (over), varnish, whitewash; becloud, bedim, befog, cloud, darken, eclipse, obscure, overcast, overshadow, shadeto serve as a sign or symptom of
SYNONIMS:
bespeak, betoken, denote, mean, point (to), signify, tell (of)RELATED WORDS:
bode, foreshow, foretell, presage1.
to act upon (a person or a person's feelings) so as to cause a response
SYNONIMS:
impact, impress, influence, move, reach, strike, sway, tell (on), touchRELATED WORDS:
carry away, dazzle, enrapture, entrance, enthrall ( enthral), ravish, transport; bias, color; inspire, stir; engage, interest, involve, penetrate, pierce; afflict, agitate, bother, concern, discomfort, discompose, disquiet, distress, disturb, fluster, harass, harry, perturb, pester, plague, smite, strain, stress, trouble, try, upset, worry, wring; allure, attract, bewitch, captivate, charm, enchant, fascinateNEAR ANTONYMS:
bore, jade, pall, tire, weary; underwhelm2.
to give information (as to the authorities) about another's improper or unlawful activities
SYNONIMS:
fink, grass (on), inform, rat (on), sing, snitch, split (on), squeak, talk, tell (on)RELATED WORDS:
betray, give away, turn in; backstab, cross, double-cross, sell (out), two-time; blab, tattle; tip (off)