Lexic.us

Definition of Tell on

1. Verb. Give away information about somebody. "He told on his classmate who had cheated on the exam"

2. Verb. Produce an effect or strain on somebody. "Each step told on his tired legs"

Definition of Tell on

1. Verb. To inform on; to tattle; to tell someone with authority that someone else has done something wrong; usually somewhat childish. ¹

2. Verb. To cause strain to somebody or something. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Tell On

teliospores telithromycin telium tell-all tell-tale tell against tell all tell apart tell it like it is tell it to Sweeney

tell it to the marines tell me about it tell off tell on (current term) tell tales tell the difference tell the truth tell you the truth tellable tellane

tellar tellared tellaring tellars telled tellee tellen tellenol

Literary usage of Tell on

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Living Age by Making of America Project, Eliakim Littell, Robert S. Littell (1876)
"I 'a heerd tell on Mendel — you knows what, it d' be a foreign fangled name," apologized Clem, with quiet confidence. '• Owd Stenhouse, as learned me, ..."

2. A Cycle of Adams Letters, 1861-1865 by Charles Francis Adams, Henry Adams (1920)
"Retreat, defeat and exposure would tell on them more than on the whites. So far, as a whole, they more than fulfil every expectation which I entertained. ..."

3. The Christian Remembrancer by William Scott (1846)
"That this was an argument exceedingly suited to tell on Mr. Newman's mind, will be obvious to any one who will turn back to those parts of the Introduction ..."

4. The Comic History of the United States: From a Period Prior to the Discovery by John D. Sherwood (1870)
"How Public Events tell on Family Matters tolled long and loud. —People occasionally subject to Scarlet Fever and Fourth of July, but can't live on either. ..."

5. The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine by Roy J. Friedman Mark Twain Collection (Library of Congress) (1913)
""tell on Mrs. Perkins? What kind av a man are ye? ... Is there a man among ye that w'u'd tell on her?'1 "Nooo," says all hands at wanst. ..."

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