tell apart
phrasal verb
told apart; telling apart; tells apart
: to see what the differences are between (people or things) : to identify (people or things that look similar to each other)
It's hard to tell the twins apart.
Examples of tell apart in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Most people have three types of cones and can tell apart several million types of colors.
—
Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 23 Apr. 2025
While different, both are often symptomatically hard to tell apart.
—New Atlas, 5 Feb. 2025
Dugongs and manatees are easy to tell apart because of the shape of their tails.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 3 Feb. 2025
But the era of De Beers being big enough to dominate diamond mining, processing, and marketing, has passed with the entry of new miners such as Rio Tinto and the dramatic improvement in synthetic stones which even a skilled jeweler finds hard to tell apart from natural gems.
—Tim Treadgold, Forbes, 26 Dec. 2024
And so the Maduro regime has made its redlines and allowances ever harder for ordinary people to tell apart.
—Gisela Salim-Peyer, The Atlantic, 21 Dec. 2024
Some of the dragons in this dance are hard to tell apart, but Meleys had presence.
—Dee Lockett, Vulture, 8 July 2024
In terms of design, the iPhone 16s aren't that hard to tell apart thanks to their different color palettes.
—PCMAG, 12 Sep. 2024
This explains why iterations close together would be hard to tell apart, but why those separated by more time feel quite different.
—Michael Irving, New Atlas, 22 July 2024
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Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 23 Apr. 2025
While different, both are often symptomatically hard to tell apart.
—New Atlas, 5 Feb. 2025
Dugongs and manatees are easy to tell apart because of the shape of their tails.
—Irene Wright, Miami Herald, 3 Feb. 2025
But the era of De Beers being big enough to dominate diamond mining, processing, and marketing, has passed with the entry of new miners such as Rio Tinto and the dramatic improvement in synthetic stones which even a skilled jeweler finds hard to tell apart from natural gems.
—Tim Treadgold, Forbes, 26 Dec. 2024
And so the Maduro regime has made its redlines and allowances ever harder for ordinary people to tell apart.
—Gisela Salim-Peyer, The Atlantic, 21 Dec. 2024
Some of the dragons in this dance are hard to tell apart, but Meleys had presence.
—Dee Lockett, Vulture, 8 July 2024
In terms of design, the iPhone 16s aren't that hard to tell apart thanks to their different color palettes.
—PCMAG, 12 Sep. 2024
This explains why iterations close together would be hard to tell apart, but why those separated by more time feel quite different.
—Michael Irving, New Atlas, 22 July 2024
Cite this Entry
“Tell apart.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tell%20apart. Accessed 11 Jul. 2025.
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