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
Even the internals are difficult to tell apart, though a close inspection will reveal subtle differences in the heat pipes and cooling fans.
—
IEEE Spectrum, 13 Sep. 2025
From iPhone Air to iPhone 17 Pro Max: What these new models mean
The net result is three new, very distinct iPhone designs that not only make the various models easier to tell apart but also make the experience of using them very different.
—Bob O’Donnell, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2025
Not bad for a Batman also-ran, who is part of a class of Brit invaders that some often can’t tell apart (George MacKay and Harris Dickinson, anyone?).
—Matt Donnelly, Variety, 14 July 2025
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
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IEEE Spectrum, 13 Sep. 2025
From iPhone Air to iPhone 17 Pro Max: What these new models mean
The net result is three new, very distinct iPhone designs that not only make the various models easier to tell apart but also make the experience of using them very different.
—Bob O’Donnell, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2025
Not bad for a Batman also-ran, who is part of a class of Brit invaders that some often can’t tell apart (George MacKay and Harris Dickinson, anyone?).
—Matt Donnelly, Variety, 14 July 2025
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
Cite this Entry
“Tell apart.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tell%20apart. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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