Say (verb)
To pronounce.
“Please say your name slowly and clearly.”
Say (verb)
To recite.
“Martha, will you say the Pledge of Allegiance?”
Say (verb)
To tell, either verbally or in writing.
“He said he would be here tomorrow.”
Say (verb)
To indicate in a written form.
“The sign says it’s 50 kilometres to Paris.”
Say (verb)
To have a common expression; used in singular passive voice or plural active voice to indicate a rumor or well-known fact.
“They say “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”, which means “behave as those around you do.””
Say (verb)
Suppose, assume; used to mark an example, supposition or hypothesis.
“A holiday somewhere warm – Florida, say – would be nice.”
“Say he refuses. What do we do then?”
“Say your family is starving and you don’t have any money, is it ok to steal some food?”
Say (verb)
To speak; to express an opinion; to make answer; to reply.
Say (verb)
To bet as a wager on an outcome; by extension, used to express belief in an outcome by the speaker.
Say (verb)
To try; to assay.
Say (noun)
A chance to speak; the right or power to influence or make a decision.
Say (noun)
A type of fine cloth similar to serge.
Say (noun)
Trial by sample; assay; specimen.
Say (noun)
Tried quality; temper; proof.
Say (noun)
Essay; trial; attempt.
Say (adverb)
For example; let us assume.
“Pick a color you think they’d like, say, peach.”
“He was driving pretty fast, say, fifty miles per hour.”
Say (interjection)
Used to gain one’s attention before making an inquiry or suggestion
“Say, what did you think about the movie?”
Tell (verb)
To count, reckon, or enumerate.
“All told, there were over a dozen.”
“Can you tell time on a clock?”
“He had untold wealth.”
Tell (verb)
To narrate.
“I want to tell a story;”
“I want to tell you a story.”
Tell (verb)
To convey by speech; to say.
“Finally, someone told him the truth.”
“He seems to like to tell lies.”
Tell (verb)
To instruct or inform.
“Please tell me how to do it.”
Tell (verb)
To order; to direct, to say to someone.
“Tell him to go away.”
Tell (verb)
To discern, notice, identify or distinguish.
“Can you tell whether those flowers are real or silk, from this distance?”
“No, there’s no way to tell.”
Tell (verb)
To reveal.
“Time will tell what became of him.”
Tell (verb)
To be revealed.
Tell (verb)
To have an effect, especially a noticeable one; to be apparent, to be demonstrated.
“Sir Gerald was moving slower; his wounds were beginning to tell.”
Tell (verb)
To use beads or similar objects as an aid to prayer.
Tell (verb)
To inform someone in authority about a wrongdoing.
“I saw you steal those sweets! I’m going to tell!”
Tell (verb)
To reveal information in prose through outright expository statement — contrasted with show
“Maria rewrote the section of her novel that talked about Meg and Sage’s friendship to have less telling and more showing.”
Tell (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.
Tell (noun)
That which is told; a tale or account.
Tell (noun)
A private message to an individual in a chat room; a whisper.
Tell (noun)
A hill or mound, originally and especially in the Middle East, over or consisting of the ruins of ancient settlements.
Say (verb)
utter words so as to convey information, an opinion, a feeling or intention, or an instruction
“he said to come early”
“our parents wouldn’t believe a word we said”
“‘Thank you,’ he said”
“he said the fund stood at £100,000”
Say (verb)
(of a text or a symbolic representation) convey specified information or instructions
“the Act says such behaviour is an offence”
Say (verb)
enable a listener or reader to learn or understand something by conveying or revealing (information or ideas)
“the film’s title says it all”
“I don’t want to say too much”
“her rise and fall says a lot about our brutal political system”
Say (verb)
(of a clock or watch) indicate (a specified time)
“the clock says ten past two”
Say (verb)
be asserted or reported
“it is said that she lived to over a hundred”
“they were said to be training freedom fighters”
Say (verb)
present a consideration in favour of or excusing (someone or something)
“all I can say for him is that he’s a better writer than some”
Say (verb)
utter the whole of (a speech or other set of words, typically one learned in advance)
“the padre finished saying the Nunc Dimittis”
Say (verb)
assume something in order to work out what its consequences would be; make a hypothesis
“let’s say we pay in five thousand pounds in the first year”
Say (verb)
used parenthetically to indicate that something is being suggested as possible or likely but not certain
“the form might include, say, a dozen questions”
Say (interjection)
used to express surprise or to draw attention to a remark or question
“say, did you notice any blood?”
Say (noun)
an opportunity for stating one’s opinion or feelings
“she let him have his say”
Say (noun)
an opportunity to influence developments and policy
“the assessor will have a say in how the money is spent”
“the households concerned would still have some say in what happened”
Tell (verb)
communicate information to someone in spoken or written words
“we must be told the facts”
“‘We have nothing in common,’ she told him”
“he’s telling the truth”
“I told her you were coming”
Tell (verb)
order or advise someone to do something
“tell him to go away”
Tell (verb)
relate (a story)
“he tried to make the children laugh by telling jokes”
“tell me the story again”
Tell (verb)
reveal (information) to someone in a non-verbal way
“the smile on her face told him everything”
“the figures tell a different story”
Tell (verb)
divulge confidential or private information
“promise you won’t tell”
Tell (verb)
inform someone of the misdemeanours of
“friends don’t tell on each other”
Tell (verb)
decide or determine correctly or with certainty
“I couldn’t tell if he believed me”
“you can tell they’re in love”
Tell (verb)
perceive (the difference between one person or thing and another)
“I can’t tell the difference between margarine and butter”
Tell (verb)
(of an experience or period of time) have a noticeable, typically harmful, effect on someone
“the strain of supporting the family was beginning to tell on him”
Tell (verb)
(of a particular factor) play a part in the success or otherwise of someone or something
“lack of fitness told against him on his first run of the season”
Tell (verb)
count (the members of a group)
“the shepherd had told all his sheep”
Tell (noun)
(especially in poker) an unconscious action that is thought to betray an attempted deception.
Tell (noun)
(in the Middle East) an artificial mound formed by the accumulated remains of ancient settlements.