tells

noun

(informal) A giveaway; something that unintentionally reveals or hints at a secret.

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.

(Internet) A private message to an individual in a chat room; a whisper.

(archaeology) A hill or mound, originally and especially in the Middle East, over or consisting of the ruins of ancient settlements.

A surname.

(archaic) That which is told; a tale or account.

verb

(transitive, ditransitive) To convey by speech; to say.

(transitive) To instruct or inform.

(transitive, ditransitive) To narrate, to recount.

(transitive) To order; to direct, to say to someone.

(transitive) To reveal.

(transitive or intransitive) To discern, notice, identify or distinguish.

(intransitive) To have an effect, especially a noticeable one; to be apparent, to be demonstrated.

(intransitive) To be revealed.

(intransitive, childish) To inform someone in authority about a wrongdoing.

(authorship, intransitive) To reveal information in prose through outright expository statement — contrasted with show.

(transitive) To use (beads or similar objects) as an aid to prayer.

(transitive, archaic outside of idioms) To count, reckon, or enumerate.

Synonyms & related words for tells

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Words related to tells

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