told
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told
(tōld)v.
Past tense and past participle of tell1.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
told
(təʊld)vb
the past tense and past participle of tell1
adj
See all told
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
told
(toʊld)v.
pt. and pp. of tell.
Idioms: all told, counting everyone or everything; in all.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Translations
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
told
pret, ptp of tell; there were 50 people there all told → es waren insgesamt or alles in allem 50 Leute daCollins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
tell
(tel) – past tense, past participle told (tould) verb1. to inform or give information to (a person) about (something). He told the whole story to John; He told John about it.
2. to order or command; to suggest or warn. I told him to go away.
3. to say or express in words. to tell lies / the truth / a story.
4. to distinguish; to see (a difference); to know or decide. Can you tell the difference between them?; I can't tell one from the other; You can tell if the meat is cooked by/from the colour.
5. to give away a secret. You mustn't tell or we'll get into trouble.
6. to be effective; to be seen to give (good) results. Good teaching will always tell.
ˈteller noun1. a person who receives or pays out money over the counter at a bank.
2. a person who tells (stories). a story-teller.
ˈtelling adjective having a great effect. a telling argument.
ˈtellingly adverbˈtelltale adjective
giving information (often which a person would not wish to be known). the telltale signs of guilt.
I told you so I told or warned you that this would happen, had happened etc, and I was right. `I told you so, but you wouldn't believe me.
tell off to scold: The teacher used to tell me off for not doing my homework ( ˌtelling-ˈoff: He gave me a good telling-off) nountell on
1. to have a bad effect on. Smoking began to tell on his health.
2. to give information about (a person, usually if they are doing something wrong). I'm late for work – don't tell on me!
tell tales to give away secret or private information about the (usually wrong) actions of others. You must never tell tales.
tell the time to (be able to) know what time it is by looking at a clock etc or by any other means. He can tell the time from the position of the sun; Could you tell me the time, please?
there's no telling it is impossible to know. There's no telling what he'll do!
you never can tell it is possible. It might rain – you never can tell.
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