tell · ​. [transitive] (of a person) to give information to somebody by speaking or writing · ​ · ​ · ​[intransitive] (informal) to let somebody know a secret · ​ · ​. Tell of · Tell off · Tell against · Tell-all adjective

give information; 1[transitive] (of a person) to give information to someone by speaking or writing tell something to somebody He told the news to everyone ...

To mention or name (a series of things) one after another in order; to enumerate; to give a list of, to list. Also with double object: to enumerate or list to ...

phrasal verb. tell of something. ​(formal or literary) to make something known; to give an account of something. notices telling of the proposed job cuts.

telling · ​having a strong or important effect; effective. a telling argument; Although he didn't score a goal, Tevez made a telling contribution to the game.

having a strong or important effect; effective a telling argument Although he didn't score a goal, Tevez made a telling contribution to the game.

​(of a book, an interview in a newspaper or magazine, etc.) in which somebody, usually somebody famous, admits something that may shock people. a tell-all book ...

tell on somebody (informal) to tell a person in authority about something bad that someone has done.

The earliest known use of the noun tell is in the 1840s. OED's earliest evidence for tell is from 1840, in Journal of Royal Geographical Society.

​(informal) to speak angrily to somebody for doing something wrong synonym scold. I told the boys off for making so much noise. Did you get told off?