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tat·tle | \ ˈta-tᵊl 
\
\tattled; tattling\ ˈtat-liŋ , ˈta-tᵊl-iŋ \
, ˈta-tᵊl-iŋ \Definition of tattle
(Entry 1 of 2)
: to utter or disclose in gossip or chatter
tattle
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Examples of tattle in a Sentence
Verb
those neighborhood busybodies, constantly tattling and whispering over their backyard fences Noun
she claims to have picked up some juicy tattle about the candidate
Recent Examples on the Web: Verb Polling his colleagues, Fowler found that sites had tattled to Facebook about their visits to a sperm measurement service, medical insurers and a credit agency.
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Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, "Facebook’s ‘Clear History’ button is basically a farce," 3 Feb. 2020 Priests, seminarians and former seminarians described in interviews a climate of self-censure, with men often tattling on one another and gossiping rather than speaking openly.
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Michelle Boorstein, Washington Post, "Catholic seminarians are newly speaking out about sexual misconduct — and being shunned as a result," 4 Oct. 2019 Turns out some professor just made a funny on Twitter calling Stephens a bedbug (context: the Times has bedbugs) and the latter lost his mind over it and tried to get the poor guy fired by tattling to his provost.
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Michael Andor Brodeur, BostonGlobe.com, "Bed bugs, tan suits, baked beans, and kombucha," 30 Aug. 2019 Back with the guys, Garrett’s ready to tattle on Luke P., telling the men that — as expected — Luke was dishonest with them.
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Joyce Chen, refinery29.com, "The Bachelorette Season 15, Week 6 Recap: It's A Trap!," 20 June 2019 Today, members get called into bishops’ offices because someone tattled about a private Facebook post.
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Sarah Scoles, Longreads, "Meet the New Mormons," 8 June 2018 Rather, children’s tattling was entirely focused on informing the victim about the transgression and/or the transgressor.
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Scott Berson, charlotteobserver, "Lots of kids tattletale - but maybe that's a good thing, study says | Charlotte Observer," 6 Apr. 2018 In May, the University of Arizona hired students to tattle on their peers for microaggressions.
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Katherine Timpf, National Review, "UConn Offers Counseling for Students Upset at ‘Even the Thought of’ a Ben Shapiro Speech," 24 Jan. 2018 One time in the fourth grade, a kid said the f-word during recess and someone tattled on him.
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Danielle Friedman, The Cut, "Should I Forking Force Myself to Swear More?," 26 Dec. 2017 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun Google no longer has to worry about Microsoft tattle-telling on its powerful ad business.
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Washington Post, "Bing’s Not the Laughingstock of Technology Anymore," 31 May 2019 But some of the most salacious tittle-tattle originates from inside the palace.
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K.j. Yossman, Marie Claire, "Inside the Cutthroat World of Royal Gossips," 5 Sep. 2019 His weekly, Next, which began as a print magazine but now has only a digital edition, writes a lot about celebrities and covers local tittle-tattle, but also provides unstinting support for the protests.
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Andrew Higgins, New York Times, "A Hong Kong ‘Troublemaker’ With a Clean Conscience," 23 Aug. 2019 That letter was copied and circulated widely (a common practice in the 1600s), and a copy found its way into the hands of a tattle-tale Dominican friar named Niccolò Lorini.
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Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "Newly discovered letter by Galileo resolves puzzling historical mystery," 22 Sep. 2018 Gordon-Levitt voices Slowen Lo, the tattle-tale alien with the thick southern drawl, who complains about Finn and Rose parking their shuttle on the beach of Canto Bight.
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Scott Meslow, GQ, "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," 18 Dec. 2017 Related tittle-tattle posited that the company’s new smartwatch would come with its own cellular connectivity.
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Alan Murray, Fortune, "Fortune’s 100 Fastest Growing Companies — CEO Daily, Monday 11th September," 11 Sep. 2017 Being the younger sister, naturally Arya threatens to tattle.
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James Hibberd, PEOPLE.com, "Game of Thrones Recap: 'Beyond the Wall'," 21 Aug. 2017 With all of this tittle-tattle, your lips desperately need some TLC.
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Aliza Kelly Faragher, Allure, "What This Week's Horoscope Means for You," 14 Aug. 2017
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tattle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for tattle
tattle
verbEnglish Language Learners Definition of tattle
chiefly US, informal : to tell a parent, teacher, etc., about something bad or wrong that another child has done
See the full definition for tattle in the English Language Learners Dictionary
tattle
verbtat·tle | \ ˈta-tᵊl \
\tattled; tattling
Kids Definition of tattle
: to tell on someone
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Time Traveler for tattle
The first known use of tattle was circa 1529
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