tell on
phrasal verb
told on; telling on; tells on
1
informal
: to tell someone in authority about the bad behavior or actions of (someone else)
Please don't tell on me.
2
: to have a noticeable effect on (someone or something)
The stress began to tell on her face/health.
Examples of tell on in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Corporations — entities that have long capitalized on social causes to chase profit — seem to be telling on themselves with an apparent pullback on Pride Month marketing this year.
—
Li Zhou, Vox, 20 June 2024
Where once the account of the army’s arrival in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, rarely circulated outside African-American circles, the narrative is now told on an annual basis in thousands of celebrations across the country.
—Tobin Miller Shearer, TIME, 19 June 2024
We have been told on multiple occasions by the Army that FARA was their number one priority.
—Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 17 Apr. 2024
Officials say a tree tell on the car of a person stopped at a red light along Main St. and 9th Ave.
—Muri Assunção, New York Daily News, 4 Apr. 2024
One version of our story is finally getting told on one of the biggest stages available to us as Vietnamese refugees, Vietnamese Americans, Vietnamese people.
—Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2024
One afternoon, George spoke with Sheldon, chiding him for telling on his classmates.
—Jp Mangalindan, Peoplemag, 14 May 2024
In all fairness, Richard Gadd (very honestly) put all of the story that there was to tell on screen for us already and tied up all of the loose ends along the way.
—Laura Hampson, Glamour, 6 May 2024
Two patients at the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Mobile said they were told on Friday that certain IVF procedures would resume on April 1.
—Bracey Harris, NBC News, 22 Mar. 2024
Li Zhou, Vox, 20 June 2024
Where once the account of the army’s arrival in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, rarely circulated outside African-American circles, the narrative is now told on an annual basis in thousands of celebrations across the country.
—Tobin Miller Shearer, TIME, 19 June 2024
We have been told on multiple occasions by the Army that FARA was their number one priority.
—Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 17 Apr. 2024
Officials say a tree tell on the car of a person stopped at a red light along Main St. and 9th Ave.
—Muri Assunção, New York Daily News, 4 Apr. 2024
One version of our story is finally getting told on one of the biggest stages available to us as Vietnamese refugees, Vietnamese Americans, Vietnamese people.
—Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, 30 May 2024
One afternoon, George spoke with Sheldon, chiding him for telling on his classmates.
—Jp Mangalindan, Peoplemag, 14 May 2024
In all fairness, Richard Gadd (very honestly) put all of the story that there was to tell on screen for us already and tied up all of the loose ends along the way.
—Laura Hampson, Glamour, 6 May 2024
Two patients at the Center for Reproductive Medicine in Mobile said they were told on Friday that certain IVF procedures would resume on April 1.
—Bracey Harris, NBC News, 22 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tell on.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near tell on
Cite this Entry
“Tell on.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tell%20on. Accessed 4 Jul. 2024.
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