tell time

phrase

US

: to be able to know what time it is by looking at a clock

My son is just learning to tell time.

Examples of tell time in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As of late, the company has switched from using steel nanoballs to tell time (like the ones inside Win’s own hourglass, which had a copper hue) to using larger titanium nanoballs. — Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 7 Apr. 2026

The term Ides comes from the Latin word iduare, meaning to divide, with the full moon serving as the division point in the middle of each month as a way to tell time, according to Britannica. — Kate Perez, USA Today, 15 Mar. 2026

Its latest creation capitalizes on the recent trend of functional ring watches, but unlike Timex and Casio’s wearables that don’t do much more than tell time, the Rogbid Fusion includes smart functionality like fitness tracking, heart rate and blood oxygen measurements, and sleep monitoring. — Andrew Liszewski, The Verge, 29 Jan. 2026

Atomic clocks, including hydrogen masers and cesium beam clocks, rely on the natural resonant frequencies of atoms to tell time with extremely high accuracy. — Joe Hernandez, NPR, 21 Dec. 2025

Rhymes for tell time

• airtime
• bedtime
• daytime
• downtime
• enzyme
• halftime
• lifetime
• longtime
• lunchtime
• mealtime
• meantime
• nighttime