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
Worse still, the squad weren’t told of this until after the final game of the season.
—
Phil Hay, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
Thousands told of being beaten by police, opposition figures were jailed or forced into exile, and hundreds of thousands fled abroad in fear.
—Yuras Karmanau, Los Angeles Times, 21 Apr. 2025
Based on Robert Evans’ 1994 memoir and narrated by the man himself, the film tells of the last, so far, of the old school, hands-on Hollywood producers, who oversaw the second golden age of Paramount Pictures from 1967 and 1974.
—Thomas Doherty, HollywoodReporter, 20 Apr. 2025
The six-part series is set in Hong Kong and tells of a group of friends gathering for a summer of fun in the sun as boating season begins but which spirals into a web of deception and power struggles.
—Clifford Coonan, Variety, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tell of
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Phil Hay, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
Thousands told of being beaten by police, opposition figures were jailed or forced into exile, and hundreds of thousands fled abroad in fear.
—Yuras Karmanau, Los Angeles Times, 21 Apr. 2025
Based on Robert Evans’ 1994 memoir and narrated by the man himself, the film tells of the last, so far, of the old school, hands-on Hollywood producers, who oversaw the second golden age of Paramount Pictures from 1967 and 1974.
—Thomas Doherty, HollywoodReporter, 20 Apr. 2025
The six-part series is set in Hong Kong and tells of a group of friends gathering for a summer of fun in the sun as boating season begins but which spirals into a web of deception and power struggles.
—Clifford Coonan, Variety, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tell of
Cite this Entry
“Tell of.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tell%20of. Accessed 9 May. 2025.
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