VERB
-
produce an effect or strain on somebody
Each step told on his tired legs -
give away information about somebody
He told on his classmate who had cheated on the exam
How To Use tell on In A Sentence
- Years ago, they'd tell on you if you did something wrong — crimes were solvable. Times, Sunday Times
- These may all be included in the journey of your life but they tell only a part of the story.
- To put it another way, we may need to tell one another and ourselves major whoppers, and not just little white lies, to replenish our interest in life.
- She "hem" - ed and "ha" - ed for awhile, and her simpering ways were just beginning to tell on my nerves, when she suddenly started talking very fast. Lady Molly of Scotland Yard
- It is not unreasonable to expect that gentlemen who enjoy that sort of recreation, upon hearing that a London call girl was writing a kiss-and-tell online diary, would race to the nearest computer and check it wasn't them being mentioned.
- She does tell one good joke though:'How many performance artists does it take to change a light bulb? Times, Sunday Times
- These snakes are roughly cylindrical, and if their small forked tongues didn't flick in and out, it would be hard to tell one end from the other.
- While Vandy measured him, Doriel began to tell one of the more tame war stories, but Malindila and Vandy both shook their heads.
- I mentioned in Chapter 2 that ‘narrative display texts’, a class which includes both literary narratives and stories people tell one another, circulate because their stories are tellable, ‘worth it’.
- He can't tell one wine from another, so don't give him any of the expensive stuff.