Small ripe eggplants ready to be harvested - Yuliia Bilousova/Getty Images A bad reputation can follow you for the rest of your life, but that's nothing compared to what some plants have endured. For ... The meaning of TELL is to relate in detail : narrate.

Understanding the Context

How to use tell in a sentence. Synonym Discussion of Tell. We use tell with an indirect object and a to-infinitive to report a command or an instruction. Define tell.

Key Insights

tell synonyms, tell pronunciation, tell translation, English dictionary definition of tell. v. told , tell ing , tells v. tr. 1.

Final Thoughts

a. To communicate by speech or writing; express with words: She told him that the store was closed. Tell me the truth.... to give an account or report: Tell me about your trip. to give evidence or be an indication: The ruined temples told of an ancient culture, long since passed from existence. (transitive or intransitive) To notice, discern.

(Roughly, "can tell" means "know" but with a sense of direct perception.) The resultant compositions sang so naturally that I doubt if any listener, lacking the mentions in this note, could tell which came first—the words or the music. To tell is to describe or announce something, either by speaking or writing. If you're going to be late to a movie, you should tell your friends so they can save you a seat.