NOUN
- a Swiss patriot who lived in the early 14th century and who was renowned for his skill as an archer; according to legend an Austrian governor compelled him to shoot an apple from his son's head with his crossbow (which he did successfully without mishap)
How To Use William Tell In A Sentence
- His fine sonnets to Liberty, and indeed, all his pieces which have any reference to political interest, remind me of the spirit in which Schiller has conceived the character of William Tell, a calm, single hearted herdsman of the hills, breaking forth into fiery and indignant eloquence, when the sanctity of his hearth is invaded. Memorials of Mrs. Hemans, with Illustrations of Her Literary Character from Her Private Correspondence
- William Tell overture is not "from the soundtrack for A Clockwork Orange", it is a piece of classical music composed by Rossini. Matt’s Top 10 Trailers of 2009 – Collider.com
- William Tell and Gessler's cap), not improbably testifies to equivocalness even at that late date. From Sail to Steam, Recollections of Naval Life
- Petermann Etterlin, one of the early sixteenth-century Swiss authors who told the tale of William Tell, also wrote of how regional Governor Winkelried killed one of the termagant dragons: he wrapped thorny branches around a long lance and pushed this into the dragon's open mouth; then he finished off the beast with his sword. Richard Bangs: Here Be Dragons: Mt. Pilatus in Switzerland, Part 3
- The story goes that William Tell killed the tyrant with an arrow.
- Two years earlier, in 1829, the playbill for Rossini's William Tell had included the names of the dancers (again led by Marie Taglioni) together with the singers as evidence of a spectacular production.
- Such is the oscitancy of man, that he lies torpid for ages under these aggressions, until, at last, some signal abusethe violation of Lucrece, the death of Virginia, the oppression of William Tellshakes him from his slumber. II. At the Prosecution of Johnson for Libel
- Much like musical doorbell chimes: you can only listen to a badly midi-ized version of the William Tell overture once before you rip out the batteries and revert to knocking.
- Zurich was congratulated on the possession of a Paragon of public virtue; and William Tell, in the character of benefactor to Switzerland, was compared disadvantageously with Mrs. Lecount. No Name
- In Chamonix I took a day or two to thaw out and mend bruises, and then ran over to Martigny, crossed the Grand St. Bernard, the St. Gotthard, and the Grimsel passes, spent a week in William Tell's country, prowling about the ruins of old castles and the sites of legendary battles, and finally settled down in Milan to feast my eyes on the pinnacles of its wondrous cathedral. McClure's Magazine, Vol. 6, No. 6, May, 1896
