TELLTALE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Telltale

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/tˈɛltˌeɪl/ Listen

noun

Telltale n.

1.

One who officiously communicates information of the private concerns of others; one who tells that which prudence should suppress.

2.

(Mus.) A movable piece of ivory, lead, or other material, connected with the bellows of an organ, that gives notice, by its position, when the wind is exhausted.

3.

(Naut.)

(a)

A mechanical attachment to the steering wheel, which, in the absence of a tiller, shows the position of the helm.

(b)

A compass in the cabin of a vessel, usually placed where the captain can see it at all hours, and thus inform himself of the vessel's course.

4.

(Mach.) A machine or contrivance for indicating or recording something, particularly for keeping a check upon employees, as factory hands, watchmen, drivers, check takers, and the like, by revealing to their employers what they have done or omitted.

5.

(Zool.) The tattler. See Tattler.

6.

A thing that serves to disclose something or give information; a hint or indication. "It supplies many useful links and telltales."

7.

(Railroads) An arrangement consisting of long strips, as of rope, wire, or leather, hanging from a bar over railroad tracks, in such a position as to warn freight brakemen of their approach to a low overhead bridge.

adjective

Telltale adj. Telling tales; babbling. "The telltale heart."

See images of 'Telltale'

Etymology of 'Telltale'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Telltale" Quotes from Famous Books

... had never had a success like "Splendour." Indeed, there were those who said that all the plays that followed had been failures, carried to semi-success on the strength of that play's glorious past. She eschewed low-cut gowns now. She knew that it is the telltale throat which first shows the marks of age. She knew, too, why Bernhardt, in "Camille," always died in a high-necked nightgown. She took to wearing high, ruffled things about her ...

— Cheerful--By Request • Edna Ferber

... the dismay she had not been able to conceal, and to hide this embarrassment she lifted to her face—not the handkerchief or the bouquet with which beauty is wont to cover the telltale signal in the cheek, but a wee dog, as white as a handkerchief and no less sweet than a bouquet. She rubbed her nose fondlingly in the soft silk of his breast, while, tickled, he tried, with baby growls and an exposure of sharp pin teeth, to get ...

— Aurora the Magnificent • Gertrude Hall

... better-looking one than your cousin. But excuse me for changing the subject of the conversation, for I am losing time. I see by the telltale over our heads that the Bronx is headed to the south-west, which is doubtless the course you were ordered to take ...

— Stand By The Union - SERIES: The Blue and the Gray--Afloat • Oliver Optic

... harvest from her summer's sowing. She sat and thought till her cheeks burned and her temples throbbed; but she dared not ease her pain with tears. The gong sounded like a Judgment-Day trump of doom, and she trembled at the idea of confronting many eyes with such a telltale face; but she could not stay behind, for Aunt Pen must know the cause. She tried to play her hard part well; but wherever she looked, some fresh anxiety appeared, as if every fault and folly of those months had blossomed suddenly within the hour. She saw Frank Evan more sombre ...

— A Modern Cinderella - or The Little Old Show and Other Stories • Louisa May Alcott

... self-sacrifice involved. In that little book was immortal love—old laughter—old tears—old beauty which had bloomed like a rose years ago, holding still its sweetness like old rose leaves. She removed the telltale fly-leaf; and late on the night before Sylvia's birthday, the Old Lady crept, under cover of the darkness, through byways and across fields, as if bent on some nefarious expedition, to the little Spencervale store where the post-office was kept. She slipped the thin parcel through ...

— Chronicles of Avonlea • Lucy Maud Montgomery

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