/tel ||; tɛl/verb (
past tense past participle told /təʊld
||; told/)
1 [T] tell sb (sth/that...);tell sb (about sth);tell sth to sb to give information to sb by speaking or writing 告诉；告知；说: She told me her address but I've forgotten it. 她告诉过我她的地址，但我忘了。He wrote to tell me that his mother had died. 他写信告诉我他母亲去世了。Tell us about your holiday. 同我们说说你的假期过得怎么样。to tell the truth/ a lie 说实话╱谎话to tell a story 讲故事Excuse me, could you tell me where the station is? 劳驾，请问车站在哪里？He tells that story to everyone he sees. 他把那个故事告诉他所见到的每个人。 ☞Look at the note at say. 参看say的注释。
2 [T] tell sb to do sth to order or advise sb to do sth 叫；命令；劝告: The policewoman told us to get out of the car. 那个女警察叫我们下车。
3 [I,T] to know, see or judge (sth) correctly 准确知道、看出或判断 [I] ‘What do you think Jenny will do next?’ ‘ It's hard to tell.’ “你认为珍妮下一步会做什么？”“很难说。”I could tell that he had enjoyed the evening. 我看得出来，他那天晚上玩得很开心。 You can never tell what he's going to say next. 没法预料他接下来会说什么。I can't tell the difference between Dan's sisters. 丹的几个姐妹我分辨不清楚。
4 [T] (used about a thing) to give information to sb （指事物）提供数据: This book will tell you all you need to know. 本书包括一切你需要的数据。
5 [I] to not keep a secret 泄密: Promise you won't tell! 你要保证不说出去！
6 [I] tell (on sb/sth) to have a noticeable effect 有显著影响: I can't run as fast as I could -- my age is beginning to tell! 我没以前跑得那么快了─岁月不饶人哪！
all told with everybody or everything counted and included 总共
(I'll) tell you what(
informal 非正式) used to introduce a suggestion （用于提出建议）你听我说:
I'll tell you what -- let's ask Diane to take us. 你听我说─我们请黛安娜把我们带去。 I told you (so)(
informal 非正式) I warned you that this would happen 我早就警告过你会发生这情况
tell A and B apart→
APART to read the time from a clock or watch 看（钟表上的）时间
tell sb off (for sth/for doing sth) to speak to sb angrily because he/she has done sth wrong 斥责；责备:
The teacher told me off for not doing my homework. 老师因我不做家庭作业而责备我。 tell on sb to tell a parent, teacher, etc about sth bad that sb has done 告发；告密