What does "tell" mean?

Tell: Tell the joints of the body. Jer. Taylor.

Additional senses

  1. 2.To utter or recite in detail; to give an account of; to narrate. Of which I shall tell all the array. Chaucer. And not a man appears to tell their fate. Pope.
  2. 3.To make known; to publish; to disclose; to divulge. Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife Gen. xii.
  3. 4.4. 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.
  4. 5.To order; to request; to command. He told her not to be frightened. Dickens.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 8.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.
  8. 9.2. 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.
  9. 10.That which is told; tale; account. [R.] I am at the end of my tell. Walpole.
  10. 11.A hill or mound. W. M. Thomson.

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