TELLTALE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • 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."

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Etymology of 'Telltale'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Telltale" Quotes from Famous Books

... his mind how Monsieur Blanc's modestly denominated Societe Anonyme des Bains de Mer et Cercle des Etrangers made it a point to proffer a railway ticket to any impending wreck, such as himself, who might drift like a stain across its roads of merriment, or leave a telltale blot upon one of its perennially beautiful and ever-odorous flower-beds. But now, as he reviewed those past weeks of hesitation and inward struggle, a sense of relapse crept over him. As he recalled the picture of the clear-cut profile ...

— Phantom Wires - A Novel • Arthur Stringer

... me—automatically—which I, in this state, dictated to her, thus rendering correspondence between us almost superfluous except for verification to our outward senses. My own mother was aware of my presence almost daily; and it was a curious fact that my telltale spirit would go to her and reveal the very things I wished to keep from her,—any little surprises or presents, or the time of my arrival home on a visit. However late the hour, I always found her ready with a warm supper to receive me. When arriving after the journey home ...

— The Arena - Volume 18, No. 92, July, 1897 • Various

... you to go!" The moment she had said it, she caught herself with a nervous little laugh, and added a postscript of whimsical nonsense to disarm her utterance of its telltale feeling. "Why, I'm just getting you civilized, yourself. It took years to get your ...

— The Call of the Cumberlands • Charles Neville Buck

... him. "Such injustice! Am I then to be blamed because Jose has a bad temper and speech hotter than the enchilladas of Margarita? I could love him for his rages! When the Blessed Mary sends me a lover—" She looked over her shoulder and sighed romantically, hiding the laughter in her eyes and the telltale twist of her lips as best she could, with lashes downcast and ...

— The Gringos • B. M. Bower

... the sill. I pick'd myself up and listen'd. Outside, the regular tramp of the sentry prov'd he had not heard me; and I drew a long breath, for I knew that without a lantern he would never spy, in the darkness, the telltale rope ...

— The Splendid Spur • Arthur T. Quiller Couch

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