tell

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To give a detailed account of; narrate: tell what happened; told us a story.
2. v. To communicate by speech or writing; express with words: tell the truth; tell one's love.
3. v. To make known; reveal: tell a secret; tell fortunes.
4. v. To notify; inform.
5. v. To inform positively; assure: I tell you, the plan will work.
6. v. To give instructions to; direct: told the customers to wait in line.
7. v. To discover by observation; discern: could tell that he was upset.
8. v. To name or number one by one; count: telling one's blessings; 16 windows, all told.
9. v. To give an account or revelation: is prepared to break silence and tell.
10. v. To give evidence; inform: promised not to tell on her friend.
11. v. To have an effect or impact: In this game every move tells.
12. tell off Informal To rebuke severely; reprimand.
13. n. A mound, especially in the Middle East, made up of the remains of a succession of previous settlements.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To number; count; enumerate; reckon one by one, or one after another: as, to tell a hundred; to tell one's beads.
2. To recount; rehearse; narrate; relate: as, to tell a story.
3. To make known; divulge; disclose; reveal; communicate: as, to tell a secret; to tell one's errand.
4. To declare; say.
5. To put or express in words; recite; explain; make clear or plain.
6. To discern so as to be able to say; distinguish; recognize; decide; determine: as, to tell one from another; she cannot tell which she likes best.
7. To inform.
8. To give an order, command, or direction to; order; bid: as, I told him to stay at home.
9. To assure; assert positively to.
10. To make account of: in phrases such as to tell no tale, to tell no dainty, to tell no store.
11. Speak, State, etc. See say.
12. To acquaint (with), apprise (of).
13. To give an account; make report; speak; explain: with of.
14. To say; declare.
15. To talk; chat; gossip.
16. To tell tales; play the informer; inform; blab: with of or on before the person: as, if you do, I'll tell.
17. To act effectively; produce a marked effect or impression; count for something.
18. n. That which is told; account; narration; story; tale.
19. n. A hill or mound: common in Oriental place-names.

Wiktionary

1. v. transitive To count, reckon, or enumerate.
2. v. transitive To narrate.
3. v. transitive To convey by speech; to say.
4. v. transitive To instruct or inform.
5. v. transitive To order; to direct, to say to someone.
6. v. intransitive To discern, notice, identify or distinguish.
7. v. transitive To reveal.
8. v. intransitive To be revealed.
9. v. intransitive To have an effect, especially a noticeable one; to be apparent, to be demonstrated.
10. n. A reflexive, often habitual behavior, especially one occurring in a context that often features attempts at deception by persons under psychological stress (such as a poker game or police interrogation), that reveals information that the person exhibiting the behavior is attempting to withhold.
11. n. archaeology A mound, originally in the Middle East, over or consisting of the ruins of ancient settlements.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To mention one by one, or piece by piece; to recount; to enumerate; to reckon; to number; to count.
2. v. To utter or recite in detail; to give an account of; to narrate.
3. v. To make known; to publish; to disclose; to divulge.
4. v. To give instruction to; to make report to; to acquaint; to teach; to inform.
5. v. To order; to request; to command.
6. v. To discern so as to report; to ascertain by observing; to find out; to discover.
7. v. obsolete To make account of; to regard; to reckon; to value; to estimate.
8. v. To give an account; to make report.
9. v. To take effect; to produce a marked effect.
10. n. rare That which is told; tale; account.
11. n. A hill or mound.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. discern or comprehend
2. v. inform positively and with certainty and confidence
3. n. a Swiss patriot who lived in the early 14th century and who was renowned for his skill as an archer; according to legend an Austrian governor compelled him to shoot an apple from his son's head with his crossbow (which he did successfully without mishap)
4. v. express in words
5. v. let something be known
6. v. give evidence
7. v. give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority
8. v. narrate or give a detailed account of
9. v. mark as different