[tell] vb told ; tell.ing [ME, fr. OE tellan; akin to OHG zellen to count, tell, OE talu tale] vt (bef. 12c) 1: count, enumerate
2. a: to relate in detail: narrate b: to give utterance to: say "who dares think one thing, and another ~ --Alexander Pope" 3 a: to make known: divulge, reveal b: to express in words "she never told her love --Shak."
4. a: to report to: inform b: to assure emphatically "they did not do it, I ~ you"
5: order, direct "told me to wait"
6: to find out by observing: recognize "you can ~ it's a masterpiece" ~ vi 1: to give an account
2: to act as an informer--often used with on "I'll get even with you if you ever ~ on me --Inside Detective"
3: to have a marked effect
4: to serve as evidence or indication syn see reveal
[2]tell n [Ar tall] (1864): hill, mound; specif: an ancient mound in the Middle East composed of remains of successive settlements