Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#TELLOFF

Verb

tell off (third-person singular simple present tells off, present participle telling off, simple past and past participle told off)Category:English lemmas#TELLOFFCategory:English verbs#TELLOFFCategory:English phrasal verbs#TELLOFFCategory:English phrasal verbs formed with %22off%22#TELLOFFCategory:English multiword terms#TELLOFFCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#TELLOFFCategory:Pages with entries#TELL%20OFFCategory:Pages with 1 entry#TELL%20OFF

1. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#TELLOFF, militaryCategory:en:Military#TELLOFF) To number off (a group of soldiers); to divide up (soldiers) in this way. [from 18th c.]
   • 1885, Edward Farrow, A Dictionary of Military Terms:

     To equalize a battalion is to tell off a certain number of companies, usually eight, in such a manner that the several component parts shall consist of the same number of men.

     Category:English terms with quotations#TELLOFF

     Category:Quotation templates to be cleaned
2. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#TELLOFF) To assign (someone) to a particular task, duty etc.; to depute, to allocate. [from 18th c.]
   • 1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 63:

     The provisions were packed over night and sent down by boat, in charge of the steward of the Gtdnare or some person specially told off for the purpose.

     Category:English terms with quotations#TELLOFF

   • 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, London: Methuen, page 17:

     When they were quite ready, the now triumphant Toad led his companions to the paddock and set them to capture the old grey horse, who, without having been consulted, and to his own extreme annoyance, had been told off by Toad for the dustiest job in this dusty expedition. He frankly preferred the paddock, and took a deal of catching.

     Category:English terms with quotations#TELLOFF

3. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#TELLOFF) To count off (numbers, members of a sequence etc.); to enumerate. [from 18th c.]
   • 1903, Field and Stream, page 755:

     The Recruit looked thoughtful and told off the days on his fingers.

     Category:English terms with quotations#TELLOFF

     Category:Quotation templates to be cleaned
4. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#TELLOFF) To rebuke, to reprimand, or to admonish, often in a harsh, angry, direct way. [from 19th c.]

   Joel's boss told him off for being late again.Category:English terms with usage examples#TELLOFF

References

• Oxford English Dictionary