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
These also told of subject Kushite chiefs who supplied the wood from acacia trees used to build vessels to ship blocks of Aswan stone northwards for the pharaoh’s pyramid.
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Vanessa Taylor, Big Think, 25 Sep. 2025
The comic told of a group of girls at a scout camp that is surrounded by supernatural occurrences and creatures.
—Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 24 Sep. 2025
The two will likely try to keep the cause of it a secret, but that Reid felt comfortable enough to publicize the effect is telling of his frustration.
—Kansas City Star, 22 Sep. 2025
When told of the unfortunate jinx moment, Fowler laughed.
—Arpon Basu, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tell of
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Vanessa Taylor, Big Think, 25 Sep. 2025
The comic told of a group of girls at a scout camp that is surrounded by supernatural occurrences and creatures.
—Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 24 Sep. 2025
The two will likely try to keep the cause of it a secret, but that Reid felt comfortable enough to publicize the effect is telling of his frustration.
—Kansas City Star, 22 Sep. 2025
When told of the unfortunate jinx moment, Fowler laughed.
—Arpon Basu, New York Times, 15 Sep. 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 1 Oct. 2025.
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