tell·tale  (t ĕl t āl ′)
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n.1. One who informs on another; a talebearer. 2. Something that indicates or reveals information; a sign. 3. Any of various devices that indicate or register information, especially: a. A time clock. b. Nautical A length of yarn or ribbon attached to a shroud, stay, or sail of a sailboat, as to indicate the direction of the wind or the strength of the flow of air over the sail. c. A row of strips hung above a railroad track to warn a passing train of low clearance ahead. 4. Sports A resonant metal strip, 24 or 30 inches (61 or 76 centimeters) high, across the bottom of the front wall of a racquets or squash court above which the ball must be hit. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices
Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:
Indo-European Roots
Semitic Roots
The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.
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