1. (

• Tell ,
• William_Tell

) 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) ;

1. (

• state ,
• say ,
• tell ,

) express in words; "He said that he wanted to marry her"; "tell me what is bothering you"; "state your opinion"; "state your name" ;

2. (

• tell

) let something be known; "Tell them that you will be late" ;

3. (

• tell ,
• narrate ,
• recount ,
• recite ,

) narrate or give a detailed account of; "Tell what happened"; "The father told a story to his child" ;

4. (

• order ,
• tell ,
• enjoin ,
• say ,

) give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority; "I said to him to go home"; "She ordered him to do the shopping"; "The mother told the child to get dressed" ;

5. (

• tell

) discern or comprehend; "He could tell that she was unhappy" ;

6. (

• assure ,
• tell ,

) inform positively and with certainty and confidence; "I tell you that man is a crook!" ;

7. (

• tell ,
• evidence ,

) give evidence; "he was telling on all his former colleague" ;

8. (

• distinguish ,
• separate ,
• differentiate ,
• secern ,
• secernate ,
• severalize ,
• severalise ,
• tell ,
• tell_apart

) mark as different; "We distinguish several kinds of maple" ;