adj telling tales; babbling.
2. telltale ·noun the tattler. ·see tattler.
3. telltale ·add. ·noun a thing that serves to disclose something or give information; a hint or indication.
4. telltale ·noun a mechanical attachment to the steering wheel, which, in the absence of a tiller, shows the position of the helm.
5. telltale ·noun one who officiously communicates information of the private concerns of others; one who tells that which prudence should suppress.
6. telltale ·noun a compass in the cabin of a vessel, usually placed where the captain can see it at all hours, and thus inform himself of the vessel's course.
7. telltale ·noun a movable piece of ivory, lead, or other material, connected with the bellows of an organ, that gives notice, by its position, when the wind is exhausted.
8. telltale ·add. ·noun an arrangement consisting of long strips, as of rope, wire, or leather, hanging from a bar over railroad tracks, in such a position as to warn freight brakemen of their approach to a low overhead bridge.
9. telltale ·noun a machine or contrivance for indicating or recording something, particularly for keeping a check upon employees, as factory hands, watchmen, drivers, check takers, and the like, by revealing to their employers what they have done or omitted.