"tell against" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "tells against",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "telling against",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "told against",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "told against",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "tell<,,told> against"
      },
      "expansion": "tell against (third-person singular simple present tells against, present participle telling against, simple past and past participle told against)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "38 62",
      "word": "counter-evidence"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "59 41",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "73 27",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English phrasal verbs with particle (against)",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1871, Harriet Beecher Stowe, chapter 27, in Pink and White Tyranny",
          "text": "[S]ome people . . . have been so short-sighted and reckless as to clamor for an easy dissolution of the marriage-contract. . . . Is it possible that they do not see that this is a liberty which, once granted, would always tell against the weaker sex?",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1903, Samuel Butler, chapter 34, in The Way of All Flesh",
          "text": "Ernest's want of muscular strength did not tell against him here.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003 June 23, First Chapter: Auto da Fay by Fay Weldon, New York Times",
          "text": "[H]ard as he worked, his age was beginning to tell against him."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To function as a liability (for someone); to put into a condition of disadvantage."
      ],
      "id": "en-tell_against-en-verb--GeVmvqP",
      "links": [
        [
          "liability",
          "liability"
        ],
        [
          "disadvantage",
          "disadvantage"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, idiomatic) To function as a liability (for someone); to put into a condition of disadvantage."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "99 1",
          "sense": "function as a liability",
          "tags": [
            "verb"
          ],
          "word": "disadvantage"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1892, George Gissing, chapter 2, in Born In Exile",
          "text": "She knew he was disposed to catch at anything that seemed to tell against Godwin's claims.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1905, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Six Napoleons,”, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes",
          "text": "Such a fact must tell against the theory.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002 Oct. 1, John Grimshaw, Clue Challenge: BOLE, The Times (UK)",
          "text": "[T]he comma tells against this reading."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To serve as evidence which casts doubt upon."
      ],
      "id": "en-tell_against-en-verb-Srk1Xa2b",
      "links": [
        [
          "evidence",
          "evidence"
        ],
        [
          "casts",
          "cast"
        ],
        [
          "doubt",
          "doubt"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, idiomatic) To serve as evidence which casts doubt upon."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "1 99",
          "sense": "serve as evidence which casts doubt upon",
          "word": "discredit"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-tell against.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/fe/En-au-tell_against.ogg/En-au-tell_against.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/En-au-tell_against.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tell against"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English phrasal verbs",
    "English phrasal verbs with particle (against)",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "tells against",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "telling against",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "told against",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "told against",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "tell<,,told> against"
      },
      "expansion": "tell against (third-person singular simple present tells against, present participle telling against, simple past and past participle told against)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "counter-evidence"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1871, Harriet Beecher Stowe, chapter 27, in Pink and White Tyranny",
          "text": "[S]ome people . . . have been so short-sighted and reckless as to clamor for an easy dissolution of the marriage-contract. . . . Is it possible that they do not see that this is a liberty which, once granted, would always tell against the weaker sex?",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1903, Samuel Butler, chapter 34, in The Way of All Flesh",
          "text": "Ernest's want of muscular strength did not tell against him here.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2003 June 23, First Chapter: Auto da Fay by Fay Weldon, New York Times",
          "text": "[H]ard as he worked, his age was beginning to tell against him."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To function as a liability (for someone); to put into a condition of disadvantage."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "liability",
          "liability"
        ],
        [
          "disadvantage",
          "disadvantage"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, idiomatic) To function as a liability (for someone); to put into a condition of disadvantage."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English idioms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1892, George Gissing, chapter 2, in Born In Exile",
          "text": "She knew he was disposed to catch at anything that seemed to tell against Godwin's claims.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1905, Arthur Conan Doyle, “The Adventure of the Six Napoleons,”, in The Return of Sherlock Holmes",
          "text": "Such a fact must tell against the theory.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2002 Oct. 1, John Grimshaw, Clue Challenge: BOLE, The Times (UK)",
          "text": "[T]he comma tells against this reading."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To serve as evidence which casts doubt upon."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "evidence",
          "evidence"
        ],
        [
          "casts",
          "cast"
        ],
        [
          "doubt",
          "doubt"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive, idiomatic) To serve as evidence which casts doubt upon."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "En-au-tell against.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/f/fe/En-au-tell_against.ogg/En-au-tell_against.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/En-au-tell_against.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (AU)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "function as a liability",
      "tags": [
        "verb"
      ],
      "word": "disadvantage"
    },
    {
      "sense": "serve as evidence which casts doubt upon",
      "word": "discredit"
    }
  ],
  "word": "tell against"
}