Telling

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Tell \Tell\ (t[e^]l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Told} (t[=o]ld); p.
     pr. & vb. n. {Telling}.] [AS. tellan, from talu tale, number,
     speech; akin to D. tellen to count, G. z[aum]hlen, OHG.
     zellen to count, tell, say, Icel. telja, Dan. tale to speak,
     t[ae]lle to count. See {Tale} that which is told.]
     1. To mention one by one, or piece by piece; to recount; to


        enumerate; to reckon; to number; to count; as, to tell
        money. "An heap of coin he told." --Spenser.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He telleth the number of the stars.   --Ps. cxlvii.
                                                    4.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Tell the joints of the body.          --Jer. Taylor.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To utter or recite in detail; to give an account of; to
        narrate.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Of which I shall tell all the array.  --Chaucer.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              And not a man appears to tell their fate. --Pope.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. To make known; to publish; to disclose; to divulge.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
                                                    --Gen. xii.
                                                    18.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. To give instruction to; to make report to; to acquaint; to
        teach; to inform.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              A secret pilgrimage,
              That you to-day promised to tell me of? --Shak.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     5. To order; to request; to command.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He told her not to be frightened.     --Dickens.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     6. To discern so as to report; to ascertain by observing; to
        find out; to discover; as, I can not tell where one color
        ends and the other begins.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     7. To make account of; to regard; to reckon; to value; to
        estimate. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              I ne told no dainity of her love.     --Chaucer.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Tell, though equivalent in some respect to speak and
           say, has not always the same application. We say, to
           tell truth or falsehood, to tell a number, to tell the
           reasons, to tell something or nothing; but we never
           say, to tell a speech, discourse, or oration, or to
           tell an argument or a lesson. It is much used in
           commands; as, tell me the whole story; tell me all you
           know.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     {To tell off}, to count; to divide. --Sir W. Scott.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: To communicate; impart; reveal; disclose; inform;
          acquaint; report; repeat; rehearse; recite.
          [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Telling \Tell"ing\, a.
     Operating with great effect; effective; as, a telling speech.
     -- {Tell"ing*ly}, adv.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  telling
       adj 1: disclosing unintentionally; "a telling smile"; "a telltale
              panel of lights"; "a telltale patch of oil on the
              water marked where the boat went down" [syn: {revealing},
               {telltale(a)}]
       2: powerfully persuasive; "a cogent argument"; "a telling
          presentation"; "a weighty argument" [syn: {cogent}, {weighty}]
       3: producing a strong effect; "gave an impressive performance
          as Othello"; "a telling gesture" [syn: {impressive}]
       n 1: an act of narration; "he was the hero according to his own
            relation"; "his endless recounting of the incident
            eventually became unbearable" [syn: {relation}, {recounting}]
       2: informing by words [syn: {apprisal}, {notification}]
       3: disclosing information or giving evidence about another
          [syn: {tattle}, {singing}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  219 Moby Thesaurus words for "telling":
     absolute, accounting, acid, adducible, admissible, agitating,
     announcement, armipotent, attestative, attestive, authentic,
     authoritative, based on, biting, breathtaking, celebrated, census,
     certain, charged, charismatic, charming, circumstantial,
     cliff-hanging, cogent, conclusive, consequential, considerable,
     conspicuous, conveyance, convincing, corrosive, counting,
     cumulative, cutting, dactylonomy, damning, decisive, determinative,
     disclosure, disquieting, distinguished, distracting, disturbing,
     documentary, documented, driving, dynamic, effective, effectual,
     efficacious, electric, eminent, enchanting, energetic, enumeration,
     esteemed, estimable, evidential, evidentiary, ex parte,
     exceptional, exciting, exhilarating, extraordinary, eye-witness,
     factual, final, firsthand, foliation, forceful, forcible,
     founded on, galvanic, giving, grounded on, gutsy, heady, hearsay,
     heart-expanding, heart-stirring, heart-swelling, heart-thrilling,
     high-potency, high-powered, high-pressure, high-tension,
     impartation, imparting, impartment, imperative, implicit,
     important, impressive, in force, in power, incisive,
     incontrovertible, indicative, indisputable, inflammatory,
     influential, intoxicating, inventorying, irrefutable, irresistible,
     jarring, jolting, maddening, magnetic, marked, material,
     measurement, memorable, mighty, mighty in battle, mind-blowing,
     momentous, mordant, moving, narration, narrative, nervous, noble,
     notable, noteworthy, notification, numbering, numeration,
     nuncupative, of mark, operative, outstanding, overcoming,
     overmastering, overpowering, overwhelming, pagination, penetrating,
     personable, persuasive, perturbing, piercing, piquant, poignant,
     potent, powerful, prepotent, prestigious, presumptive, probative,
     prominent, provocative, provoking, publication, puissant, punchy,
     quantification, quantization, rare, ravishing, recital, recountal,
     recounting, rehearsal, relation, reliable, remarkable,
     rememberable, reputable, retelling, review, ruling, salient,
     satisfactory, satisfying, sensational, sharing, signal,
     significant, sinewed, sinewy, slashing, solid, soul-stirring,
     sound, special, spirit-stirring, stimulating, stimulative,
     stirring, striking, strong, suasive, substantial, suggestive, sure,
     suspenseful, suspensive, symptomatic, tale-telling, tallying,
     tantalizing, thrilling, thrilly, transfer, transference,
     transmission, transmittal, trenchant, troubling, unforgettable,
     unsettling, upsetting, valid, vigorous, vital, weighty, winning,
     yarn spinning