tell of
phrasal verb
told of; telling of; tells of
formal + literary
1
: to be evidence of (something) : to indicate
Her smile told of her good news.
His rough hands tell of a hard life.
2
: to describe (something) : to make the details of (something) known
The article tells of her Arctic journey.
3
: to talk to (someone) about (something)
He told us of his plans to move to the city.
Examples of tell of in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Overhead, billboards with pictures of Mr. Modi — his face is everywhere in India — told of achievements like the installation of more than 100 million toilets for the poor and India’s rising stature.
—
Mujib Mashal, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024
Jared Bosley, a farmer in South Dakota, told of his fight with the state over a pipeline company surveying his land without his permission.
—Brandy Zadrozny, NBC News, 18 Apr. 2024
Barney told of one man who identified his wife and four children in the morgue.
—Jerome Hansen, Jack Schermerhorn, Ralph Nelson and Ken McCormick, Detroit Free Press, 6 Apr. 2024
Starring Jack Irv, Darío Yazbek Bernal, Willem Dafoe and Peter Sarsgaard, the film tells of a drug lord scion on the run from his powerful family.
—Matt Donnelly, Variety, 5 Apr. 2024
Officers were told of the stabbing just before 4:25 p.m. after an altercation broke out between at least two men on Traction Avenue and Colfax Street in the Old North Sacramento neighborhood, according to archived radio dispatches.
—Ishani Desai, Sacramento Bee, 5 Apr. 2024
From the May 2021 issue: Return the national parks to the tribes
The oral histories of many Native nations tell of revolutions against and flights from cities.
—Kathleen Duval, The Atlantic, 2 Apr. 2024
In earlier interviews, Shanahan told of growing up with a mother who had recently emigrated from China and a father who struggled with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
—James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2024
The 1963 Japanese movie told of a shoe executive that was in the middle of a complex corporate takeover when his plans are derailed by the accidental kidnapping and ransom of his chauffeur’s son, instead of his own son.
—Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Mar. 2024
Mujib Mashal, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2024
Jared Bosley, a farmer in South Dakota, told of his fight with the state over a pipeline company surveying his land without his permission.
—Brandy Zadrozny, NBC News, 18 Apr. 2024
Barney told of one man who identified his wife and four children in the morgue.
—Jerome Hansen, Jack Schermerhorn, Ralph Nelson and Ken McCormick, Detroit Free Press, 6 Apr. 2024
Starring Jack Irv, Darío Yazbek Bernal, Willem Dafoe and Peter Sarsgaard, the film tells of a drug lord scion on the run from his powerful family.
—Matt Donnelly, Variety, 5 Apr. 2024
Officers were told of the stabbing just before 4:25 p.m. after an altercation broke out between at least two men on Traction Avenue and Colfax Street in the Old North Sacramento neighborhood, according to archived radio dispatches.
—Ishani Desai, Sacramento Bee, 5 Apr. 2024
From the May 2021 issue: Return the national parks to the tribes
The oral histories of many Native nations tell of revolutions against and flights from cities.
—Kathleen Duval, The Atlantic, 2 Apr. 2024
In earlier interviews, Shanahan told of growing up with a mother who had recently emigrated from China and a father who struggled with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
—James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2024
The 1963 Japanese movie told of a shoe executive that was in the middle of a complex corporate takeover when his plans are derailed by the accidental kidnapping and ransom of his chauffeur’s son, instead of his own son.
—Pamela McClintock, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tell of.' 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 of
Cite this Entry
“Tell of.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tell%20of. Accessed 2 May. 2024.
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