1. Home
2. Idioms
3. tell time

tell time

---

---

tell time

 

1. Lit. to keep or report the correct time. This clock doesn't tell time very accurately. My watch stopped telling time, so I had to have it repaired.

2. Fig. to be able to read time from a clock or watch. Billy is only four. He can't tell time yet. They are teaching the children to tell time at school.

See also: tell, time

tell time

to be able to read the time from a watch or clock Kate was so proud of herself when she learned to tell time.

See also: tell, time

tell time

Keep track of the hours; also, know how to read a clock or watch. For example, This old clock still tells time quite accurately, or He taught his niece to tell time by using a cuckoo clock. This expression uses tell in the sense of "reckon" or "calculate," a usage dating from about a.d. 1000.

See also: tell, time

tell time

To determine the time of day indicated by the positions of the hands on a clock.

See also: tell, time