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TELLING
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Disclosing information or giving evidence about another
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("telling" is a kind of...):
disclosure; revealing; revelation (the speech act of making something evident)
Derivation:
tell (give evidence)
telling (disclosing unintentionally something concealed)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Informing by words
Synonyms:
apprisal; notification; telling
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("telling" is a kind of...):
informing; making known (a speech act that conveys information)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "telling"):
notice (advance notification (usually written) of the intention to withdraw from an arrangement of contract)
warning (notification of something, usually in advance)
Derivation:
tell (express in words)
Sense 3
Meaning:
An act of narration
Example:
his endless recounting of the incident eventually became unbearable
Synonyms:
recounting; relation; telling
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("telling" is a kind of...):
narration; recital; yarn (the act of giving an account describing incidents or a course of events)
Derivation:
tell (narrate or give a detailed account of)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Producing a strong effect
Example:
a telling gesture
Synonyms:
impressive; telling
Classified under:
Similar:
effective; effectual; efficacious (producing or capable of producing an intended result or having a striking effect)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Disclosing unintentionally something concealed
Example:
a telltale patch of oil on the water marked where the boat went down
Synonyms:
revealing; telling; telltale
Classified under:
Similar:
informative; informatory (providing or conveying information)
Derivation:
telling (disclosing information or giving evidence about another)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Powerfully persuasive
Example:
a weighty argument
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
persuasive (intended or having the power to induce action or belief)
III. (verb)
Sense 1
-ing form of the verb tell
Context examples:
Arthur has just gone, and I feel in better spirits than when I left off, so I can go on telling you about the day.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
They have left off telling me to “wait a few days more”.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
So, the fact that they still hadn't appeared before the end of the mission is telling us something interesting about Titan's methane cycle and weather.
(Cassini's Final View of Titan's Northern Lakes and Seas, NASA)
Every time I brought the stuff back, there would be another paper telling me to return it, because it was not pure, and another order to a different firm.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
The telling of this grim story had cast a chill upon all of us.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
“I am thinking of what you have been telling me,” said she.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
If you want a new apartment or house, start by telling everyone you know to keep an eye out for you—you never know where your luck will come from.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
Your telling it will be the greatest act of friendship that can be shewn Marianne.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
Again the eyes looked at her sharply, and they saw she was telling the truth.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
I determined to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the police.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
