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Tell vs Deliver - What's the difference?

Tell | deliver | Synonyms |

As verbs the difference between Tell and deliver

is that Tell is to count, reckon, or enumerate while deliver is to set free.

As a noun tell

is a reflexive, often habitual behavior, especially one occurring in a context that often features attempts at deception by persons under psychological stress (such as a poker game or police interrogation), that reveals information that the person exhibiting the behavior is attempting to withhold.

Tell

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) ((etyl) telja). More at tale.

Verb

  • (lb) To count, reckon, or enumerate.
  • :
  • *1590 , (Edmund Spenser), (The Faerie Queene) , II.vii:
  • *:And in his lap a masse of coyne he told , / And turned vpsidowne, to feede his eye / A couetous desire with his huge threasury.
  • *1875 , Hugh MacMillan, The Sunday Magazine :
  • *:Only He who made them can tell the number of the stars, and mark the place of each in the order of the one great dominant spiral.
  • (lb) To narrate.
  • :
  • *, chapter=7
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=“
  • (lb) To convey by speech; to say.
  • :
  • *, chapter=4
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite.}}
  • (lb) To instruct or inform.
  • :
  • *Bible, (w) xii. 18
  • *:Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud,
  • (lb) To order; to direct, to say to someone.
  • :
  • *(Charles Dickens) (1812-1870)
  • *:He told her not to be frightened.
  • *'>citation
  • *:Stability was restored, but once the re-entry propulsion was activated, the crew was told to prepare to come home before the end of their only day in orbit.
  • (lb) To discern, notice, identify or distinguish.
  • :
  • *
  • *:Captain Edward Carlisle, soldier as he was, martinet as he was, felt a curious sensation of helplessness seize upon him as he met her steady gaze, her alluring smile; he could not tell what this prisoner might do.
  • (lb) To reveal.
  • :
  • (lb) To be revealed.
  • *1990 , (Stephen Coonts), Under Siege, 1991 (Pocket Books) edition, ISBN 0671742949, p.409:
  • *:Cherry looks old, Mergenthaler told himself. His age is telling . Querulous — that's the word. He's become a whining, querulous old man absorbed with trivialities.
  • (lb) To have an effect, especially a noticeable one; to be apparent, to be demonstrated.
  • :
  • *1859 (John Stuart Mill), (On Liberty)
  • *:Opinion ought [… to give] merited honour to every one, whatever opinion he may holdkeeping nothing back which tells', or can be supposed to ' tell , in their favour.
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 18, author=Ben Dirs, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Rugby World Cup 2011: England 41-10 Georgia , passage=But England's superior fitness told in the second half, with Delon Armitage, Manu Tuilagi and Chris Ashton (two) going over for tries to secure a bonus-point win.}}
    Synonyms
    * (enumerate) count * (narrate) narrate, recount, relate
    Antonyms
    * (to instruct or inform) ask
    Derived terms
    * all told * tell against * tell all * tell-all * tell off * tell on * tell-tale / telltale * tell tales * tell tales out of school * teller

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A reflexive, often habitual behavior, (especially) one occurring in a context that often features attempts at deception by persons under psychological stress (such as a poker game or police interrogation), that reveals information that the person exhibiting the behavior is attempting to withhold.
  • That which is told; tale; account.
  • * Walpole
  • I am at the end of my tell .
  • (internet) A private message to an individual in a chat room; a whisper.
  • See also
    * dead giveaway

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (archaeology) A mound, originally in the Middle East, over or consisting of the ruins of ancient settlements.
  • Verb

    (head)
  • deliver

    English

    Alternative forms

    * delivre (archaic)

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To set free.
  • (label) To do with birth.
  • # To give birth.
  • # To assist in the birth of.
  • # To assist (a female) in bearing, that is, in bringing forth (a child).
  • #* Gower
  • She was delivered safe and soon.
  • (label) To free from or disburden of anything.
  • * (Henry Peacham) (1578-c.1644)
  • Tully was long ere he could be delivered of a few verses, and those poor ones.
  • To bring or transport something to its destination.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=10 , passage=Mr. Cooke had had a sloop?yacht built at Far Harbor, the completion of which had been delayed, and which was but just delivered .}}
  • To hand over or surrender (someone or something) to another.
  • * Bible, (w) xl. 13
  • Thou shalt deliver Pharaoh's cup into his hand.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • The constables have delivered her over.
  • * (Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • The exalted mind / All sense of woe delivers to the wind.
  • To express in words, declare, or utter.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=1 , passage=The stories did not seem to me to touch life. […] They left me with the impression of a well-delivered stereopticon lecture, with characters about as life-like as the shadows on the screen, and whisking on and off, at the mercy of the operator.}}
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=May 27, author=Nathan Rabin, work=The Onion AV Club
  • , title= TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992) , passage=It’s a lovely sequence cut too short because the show seems afraid to give itself over to romance and whimsy and wistfulness when it has wedgie jokes to deliver .}}
  • To give forth in action or exercise; to discharge.
  • * Sir (Philip Sidney) (1554-1586)
  • shaking his head and delivering some show of tears
  • * Sir (Walter Scott) (1771-1832)
  • An uninstructed bowler thinks to attain the jack by delivering his bowl straight forward.
  • To discover; to show.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • I'll deliver myself your loyal servant.
  • (label) To admit; to allow to pass.
  • (Francis Bacon)

    Synonyms

    * (to set free) * (to express)

    Derived terms

    * delivery * deliverable * deliver the goods

    Anagrams

    *