to give someone information by speaking or writing
Please tell me your name.
She told her friends the good news during lunch.
✦ Old English ‘tellan’, meaning ‘count’ or ‘relate’.
to order or instruct someone to do something
The teacher told the class to open their books.
Mom tells us to wash our hands before dinner.
to know or recognize something by noticing signs or details
You can tell that he is nervous by the way he fidgets.
Can you tell which painting is the original?
to have a noticeable effect, usually a harmful one, after some time
Years of hard work began to tell on his health.
The long drought is starting to tell on the crops.
told someone in advance that something would happen in the future.
The village elder foretold a terrible drought that would strike the crops.
She foretold her brother's success in the competition weeks before it happened.
✦ From Middle English foretellen, from Old English foretellan ('to foretell, predict'), formed from fore- ('before') + tellan ('to tell').
