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Definition of Tell off
1. Verb. Reprimand. "She told the misbehaving student off"
Generic synonyms: Bawl Out, Berate, Call Down, Call On The Carpet, Chew Out, Chew Up, Chide, Dress Down, Have Words, Jaw, Lambast, Lambaste, Lecture, Rag, Rebuke, Remonstrate, Reprimand, Reproof, Scold, Take To Task, Trounce
Definition of Tell off
1. Verb. To rebuke, to reprimand, or to admonish, often in a harsh, direct way. ¹
2. Verb. To count (members of a sequence), to enumerate. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Lexicographical Neighbors of Tell Off
Literary usage of Tell off
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. A Practical Dictionary of the English and German Languages by Felix Flügel, Johann Gottfried Flügel (1861)
"va 1. to count out, fix by number«; Mil. to tell off; 2. Print, to put in (or
lay on) a heap (the quantity of paper for the pressman to wet) ; an ben ..."
2. A Military Dictionary and Gazetteer: Comprising Ancient and Modern Military by Thomas Wilhelm (1881)
"To equalize a battalion, to tell off a certain number of companies in such a
manner that the several component parts shall consist of the same number of men ..."
3. The Roman: A Dramatic Poem by Sydney Dobell (1850)
"tell off two hundred. By the southern gate Lead out your prisoner. Underneath the
walls Let him be shot. Face right about, and reach The western heights. ..."
4. The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, with Documents, Narratives by Frank Moore, Edward Everett (1864)
"We tell off the battery into fives, and play poker till one man out of five ...
The winners tell off into fives again, and so at last somebody has enough ..."
5. School Recreations and Amusements: A Companion Volume to Kings̓ "School by Charles Wesley Mann (1896)
"tell off in odd and even numbers, — Tell OFF ! Odd numbers, stand fast. Even numbers
an oblique step to ... Front I tell off in sections of six, — Tell OFF! ..."
6. A Hand Book for Infantry: Containing the First Principles of Military by William Duane (1814)
"To give them a gradual acquaintance with the mode of movement.. ..they must be
directed to tell off by sections of three. and receive the words in the ..."
7. School Amusements: Ro, How to Make the School Interesting. Embracing Simple by Nathaniel William Taylor Root (1885)
"Command, " tell off in sections of six, commencing on the right—tell off !"
The count is now, " one, two, three, four, five, six,—one, two, three, four, ..."
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