as in to rail (at or against)
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Recent Examples of tell off
Moo's hilarious response to being told off is a textbook example of this temperament.
—
Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 June 2025
One scene, shows another donkey picking up a small goat and running around with it in their mouth, before being told off.
—Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 17 Jan. 2025
Stephen King made a surprise return to X on Feb. 20 to tell off President Trump and Elon Musk, the latter of which owns the social media platform.
—Zack Sharf, Variety, 21 Feb. 2025
Deliverance is a game about being told off for sleeping in other people's beds.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 3 Feb. 2025
The West Coast rapper took to TikTok to share a 50 Cent meme where the Queens rapper was confused about being told off by Floyd Mayweather.
—Demicia Inman, VIBE.com, 3 Sep. 2019
Two small feral-looking kids, ragged, both looked about seven years old, had been told off several times for knocking some of these flimsy chairs to one side as if to let the horse out.
—Ali Smith, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
The text overlay reads: POV you're being told off at 24 and 27.
—Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 17 Jan. 2025
The Panathinaikos substitutes and coaches, arms locked on the touchline, were told off for encroaching onto the pitch.
—Nick Miller, The Athletic, 16 Aug. 2024
Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 June 2025
One scene, shows another donkey picking up a small goat and running around with it in their mouth, before being told off.
—Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 17 Jan. 2025
Stephen King made a surprise return to X on Feb. 20 to tell off President Trump and Elon Musk, the latter of which owns the social media platform.
—Zack Sharf, Variety, 21 Feb. 2025
Deliverance is a game about being told off for sleeping in other people's beds.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 3 Feb. 2025
The West Coast rapper took to TikTok to share a 50 Cent meme where the Queens rapper was confused about being told off by Floyd Mayweather.
—Demicia Inman, VIBE.com, 3 Sep. 2019
Two small feral-looking kids, ragged, both looked about seven years old, had been told off several times for knocking some of these flimsy chairs to one side as if to let the horse out.
—Ali Smith, Harper's Magazine, 2 Jan. 2025
The text overlay reads: POV you're being told off at 24 and 27.
—Yaakov Katz, Newsweek, 17 Jan. 2025
The Panathinaikos substitutes and coaches, arms locked on the touchline, were told off for encroaching onto the pitch.
—Nick Miller, The Athletic, 16 Aug. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tell off
Verb
-
The mower can cut up to a full acre on a single charge.—
Christopher Murray
may earn a commission if you buy through our referral links. This content was created by a team that works independently from the Fox newsroom.,
FOXNews.com,
2 June 2025
-
Old towels cut up into rags do a great job of removing this soft flux once the copper pipe is cool enough to touch.—
Tim Carter,
Hartford Courant,
31 May 2025
Verb
-
But to chew out his boss--Edwin Stanton, secretary of war--would be more than just getting close to the line of insubordination.—
arkansasonline.com,
arkansasonline.com,
12 Feb. 2025
-
Judge is chewing out the parties.—
Michael Gfoeller And David H. Rundell,
Newsweek,
16 Jan. 2025
Verb
-
This would keep the family large enough to deploy members to public events without running the dwindling royals ragged.—
Timothy Nerozzi,
The Washington Examiner,
8 June 2025
-
Roberts, who often looked to me like an English schoolboy—rumpled shirt, rep tie—had worked with Tina to transform the British magazine Tatler from a staid society rag into a place of mischief.—
Hilton Als,
New Yorker,
2 June 2025
Verb
-
Merely getting to a point where Ukrainian and Russian officials could sit at the same table took an excruciating amount of time and effort, including an Oval Office dressing down of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and bilateral conversations between the Americans and the Russians.—
Daniel R. DePetris,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 June 2025
-
King Charles warmly greeted President Volodymyr Zelensky in a show of support at his estate on the North Sea coast just two days after his extraordinary dressing down by President Trump at the White House.—
Brian Melley,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
The Rangers won the World Series thanks in part to a collection of blistering bats that punished quality pitchers.—
Mac Engel,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
6 June 2025
-
The state then passed new laws aimed at punishing such gouging, and no new similar incidents have happened since then.—
Thomas Elias,
Mercury News,
6 June 2025
Verb
-
At another meeting in May 2024, Grippo scolded female employees for not working hard enough, although the team was high-performing and employees worked long hours, the lawsuit said.—
Suhauna Hussain,
Los Angeles Times,
4 June 2025
-
In January at the annual World Economic Forum, President Donald Trump scolded Brian Moynihan, the CEO of Bank of America.—
Ramishah Maruf,
CNN Money,
3 June 2025
Verb
-
My actual dining companion, dressed in her nonprofit workwear, was slack jawed at the precision of the seasoning.—
Caroline Hatchett,
Robb Report,
21 Apr. 2025
-
Jimmy Butler and Brooks jawing back and forth, leading to an elbow to the throat and slight shove to the ground.—
The Athletic NBA Staff,
New York Times,
30 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
Rather than lecturing, Kahn recommends guiding them to draw their own conclusions.—
Lydia Wang,
Parents,
20 May 2025
-
Trump stated during his big speech on the trip that his administration was not there to lecture the region on how to deal with its affairs.—
Brittney Melton,
NPR,
16 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tell off.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tell%20off. Accessed 15 Jun. 2025.
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