n. See Tael. [ 1913 Webster ]
v. i. To tell stories. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. Gower. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ AS. talu number, speech, narrative; akin to D. taal speech, language, G. zahl number, OHG. zala, Icel. tal, tala, number, speech, Sw. tal, Dan. tal number, tale speech, Goth. talzjan to instruct. Cf. Tell, v. t., Toll a tax, also Talk, v. i. ]
We spend our years as a tale that is told. Ps. xc. 9. [ 1913 Webster ]
The ignorant, . . . who measure by tale, and not by weight. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]
And every shepherd tells his tale,
Under the hawthorn in the dale. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]
In packing, they keep a just tale of the number. Carew. [ 1913 Webster ]
To tell tale of,
Therefore little tale hath he told
Of any dream, so holy was his heart. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. One who officiously tells tales; one who impertinently or maliciously communicates intelligence, scandal, etc., and makes mischief. [ 1913 Webster ]
Spies and talebearers, encouraged by her father, did their best to inflame her resentment. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. The act of informing officiously; communication of secrets, scandal, etc., maliciously. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. Telling tales officiously. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. (Jewish Antiq.) A kind of quadrangular piece of cloth put on by the Jews when repeating prayers in the synagogues. Crabb. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. Full of stories. [ R. ] Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]
‖prop. n. [ NL. ] (Zool.) A genus of Australian birds which includes the brush turkey. See Brush turkey. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. [ F., fr. L. talentum a talent (in sense 1), Gr.
Rowing vessel whose burden does not exceed five hundred talents. Jowett (Thucid.). [ 1913 Webster ]
They rather counseled you to your talent than to your profit. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]
He is chiefly to be considered in his three different talents, as a critic, a satirist, and a writer of odes. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]
His talents, his accomplishments, his graceful manners, made him generally popular. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]