4. To give instruction to; to make report to; to acquaint; to teach; to inform. A secret pilgrimage, That you to-day promised to tell me of Shak.
5. To order; to request; to command. He told her not to be frightened. Dickens.
6. To discern so as to report; to ascertain by observing; to find out; to discover; as, I can not tell where one color ends and the other begins.
7. To make account of; to regard; to reckon; to value; to estimate. [Obs.] I ne told no dainity of her love. Chaucer.
Note: Tell, though equivalent in some respect to speak and say, has not always the same application. We say, to tell truth or falsehood, to tell a number, to tell the reasons, to tell something or nothing; but we never say, to tell a speech, discourse, or oration, or to tell an argument or a lesson. It is much used in commands; as, tell me the whole story; tell me all you know. To tell off, to count; to divide. Sir W. Scott.
Syn. — To communicate; impart; reveal; disclose; inform; acquaint; report; repeat; rehearse; recite.
TELL
Tell, v. i.
1. To give an account; to make report. That I may publish with the voice of thankgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works. Ps. xxvi. 7.
2. To take effect; to produce a marked effect; as, every shot tells; every expression tells. To tell of. (a) To speak of; to mention; to narrate or describe. (b) To inform against; to disclose some fault of. — To tell on, to inform against. [Archaic & Colloq.] Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David. 1 Sam. xxvii. 11.
TELL
Tell, n.