"tell tales" meaning in English

See tell tales in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: En-au-tell tales.ogg
Head templates: {{head|en|noun form}} tell tales
  1. plural of tell tale Tags: form-of, plural Form of: tell tale Related terms: dead men tell no tales, tell tales out of school
    Sense id: en-tell_tales-en-noun-U2yGP4ot Categories (other): English cognate expressions, English entries with incorrect language header, English predicates, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English cognate expressions: 57 12 32 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 56 7 36 Disambiguation of English predicates: 41 21 38 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 72 12 16 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 79 9 12

Verb

Audio: En-au-tell tales.ogg Forms: tells tales [present, singular, third-person], telling tales [participle, present], told tales [participle, past], told tales [past]
Head templates: {{en-verb|tell<,,told> tales}} tell tales (third-person singular simple present tells tales, present participle telling tales, simple past and past participle told tales)
  1. (idiomatic) To lie, to be making false claims. Tags: idiomatic
    Sense id: en-tell_tales-en-verb-dqBlvv9s Categories (other): English predicates Disambiguation of English predicates: 41 21 38
  2. (UK) To report someone for a wrongdoing. Tags: UK
    Sense id: en-tell_tales-en-verb-YlGUlmFn Categories (other): British English, English predicates Disambiguation of English predicates: 41 21 38

Inflected forms

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "tells tales",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "telling tales",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "told tales",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "told tales",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "tell<,,told> tales"
      },
      "expansion": "tell tales (third-person singular simple present tells tales, present participle telling tales, simple past and past participle told tales)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "41 21 38",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English predicates",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Don't listen to him; he's telling tales.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To lie, to be making false claims."
      ],
      "id": "en-tell_tales-en-verb-dqBlvv9s",
      "links": [
        [
          "lie",
          "lie#Etymology 2"
        ],
        [
          "false",
          "false"
        ],
        [
          "claim",
          "claim"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To lie, to be making false claims."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "41 21 38",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English predicates",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To report someone for a wrongdoing."
      ],
      "id": "en-tell_tales-en-verb-YlGUlmFn",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK) To report someone for a wrongdoing."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-tell tales.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/0d/En-au-tell_tales.ogg/En-au-tell_tales.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/En-au-tell_tales.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tell tales"
}

{
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "noun form"
      },
      "expansion": "tell tales",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "57 12 32",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English cognate expressions",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "56 7 36",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "41 21 38",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English predicates",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "72 12 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "79 9 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "tell tale"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "plural of tell tale"
      ],
      "id": "en-tell_tales-en-noun-U2yGP4ot",
      "links": [
        [
          "tell tale",
          "tell tale#English"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "dead men tell no tales"
        },
        {
          "word": "tell tales out of school"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-tell tales.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/0d/En-au-tell_tales.ogg/En-au-tell_tales.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/En-au-tell_tales.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tell tales"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English cognate expressions",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English non-lemma forms",
    "English noun forms",
    "English predicates",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "tells tales",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "telling tales",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "told tales",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "told tales",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "tell<,,told> tales"
      },
      "expansion": "tell tales (third-person singular simple present tells tales, present participle telling tales, simple past and past participle told tales)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Don't listen to him; he's telling tales.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To lie, to be making false claims."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "lie",
          "lie#Etymology 2"
        ],
        [
          "false",
          "false"
        ],
        [
          "claim",
          "claim"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To lie, to be making false claims."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To report someone for a wrongdoing."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(UK) To report someone for a wrongdoing."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-tell tales.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/0d/En-au-tell_tales.ogg/En-au-tell_tales.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/En-au-tell_tales.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tell tales"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English cognate expressions",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English non-lemma forms",
    "English noun forms",
    "English predicates",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "noun form"
      },
      "expansion": "tell tales",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "dead men tell no tales"
    },
    {
      "word": "tell tales out of school"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "form_of": [
        {
          "word": "tell tale"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "plural of tell tale"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "tell tale",
          "tell tale#English"
        ]
      ],
      "tags": [
        "form-of",
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-tell tales.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/0d/En-au-tell_tales.ogg/En-au-tell_tales.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/En-au-tell_tales.ogg"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tell tales"
}

Download raw JSONL data for tell tales meaning in English (2.5kB)

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.