to tell off

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Off \Off\ ([o^]f; 115), adv. [OE. of, orig. the same word as R. of, prep., AS. of, adv. & prep. [root]194. See Of.] In a general sense, denoting from or away from; as: [1913 Webster]

1.Denoting distance or separation; as, the house is a mile off. [1913 Webster]

2.Denoting the action of removing or separating; separation; as, to take off the hat or cloak; to cut off, to pare off, to clip off, to peel off, to tear off, to march off, to fly off, and the like. [1913 Webster]

3.Denoting a leaving, abandonment, departure, abatement, interruption, or remission; as, the fever goes off; the pain goes off; the game is off; all bets are off. [1913 Webster]

4.Denoting a different direction; not on or towards: away; as, to look off. [1913 Webster]

5.Denoting opposition or negation. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

The questions no way touch upon puritanism, either off or on.— Bp. Sanderson.[1913 Webster]

From off, off from; off. "A live coal . . . taken with the tongs from off the altar." --Is. vi. 6.

Off and on. (a) Not constantly; not regularly; now and then; occasionally. (b) (Naut.) On different tacks, now toward, and now away from, the land.

To be off. (a) To depart; to escape; as, he was off without a moment's warning. (b) To be abandoned, as an agreement or purpose; as, the bet was declared to be off. [Colloq.]

To come off, To cut off, To fall off, To go off, etc. See under Come, Cut, Fall, Go, etc.

To get off. (a) To utter; to discharge; as, to get off a joke. (b) To go away; to escape; as, to get off easily from a trial. [Colloq.]

To take off To do a take-off on, To take off, to mimic, lampoon, or impersonate.

To tell off (a) (Mil.), to divide and practice a regiment or company in the several formations, preparatory to marching to the general parade for field exercises. --Farrow. (b) to rebuke (a person) for an improper action; to scold; to reprimand.

To be well off, to be in good condition.

To be ill off, To be badly off, to be in poor condition. [1913 Webster]

Tell \Tell\ (t[e^]l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Told (t[=o]ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Telling.] [AS. tellan, from talu tale, number, speech; akin to D. tellen to count, G. z[aum]hlen, OHG. zellen to count, tell, say, Icel. telja, Dan. tale to speak, t[ae]lle to count. See Tale that which is told.]

1.To mention one by one, or piece by piece; to recount; to enumerate; to reckon; to number; to count; as, to tell money. "An heap of coin he told." --Spenser. [1913 Webster]

He telleth the number of the stars.— Ps. cxlvii. 4.[1913 Webster]

Tell the joints of the body.— Jer. Taylor.[1913 Webster]

2.To utter or recite in detail; to give an account of; to narrate. [1913 Webster]

Of which I shall tell all the array.— Chaucer.[1913 Webster]

And not a man appears to tell their fate.— Pope.[1913 Webster]

3.To make known; to publish; to disclose; to divulge. [1913 Webster]

Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?— Gen. xii. 18.[1913 Webster]

4.To give instruction to; to make report to; to acquaint; to teach; to inform. [1913 Webster]

A secret pilgrimage, That you to-day promised to tell me of?— Shak.[1913 Webster]

5.To order; to request; to command. [1913 Webster]

He told her not to be frightened.— Dickens.[1913 Webster]

6.To discern so as to report; to ascertain by observing; to find out; to discover; as, I can not tell where one color ends and the other begins. [1913 Webster]

7.To make account of; to regard; to reckon; to value; to estimate. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

I ne told no dainity of her love.— Chaucer.[1913 Webster]

Note: Tell, though equivalent in some respect to speak and say, has not always the same application. We say, to tell truth or falsehood, to tell a number, to tell the reasons, to tell something or nothing; but we never say, to tell a speech, discourse, or oration, or to tell an argument or a lesson. It is much used in commands; as, tell me the whole story; tell me all you know. [1913 Webster]

To tell off, to count; to divide. --Sir W. Scott. [1913 Webster]

Syn: To communicate; impart; reveal; disclose; inform; acquaint; report; repeat; rehearse; recite. [1913 Webster]