Telltale

Definitions: Telltale

Telltale

Adjective

1. Disclosing unintentionally; "a telling smile"; "a telltale panel of lights"; "a telltale patch of oil on the water marked where the boat went down".

Noun

1. Someone who gossips indiscreetly.

Date "telltale" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1840. (references)

Domain	Definitions
Mechanical Engineering	A signal indicating the triggering of a device, an operation or a suspect or faulty state or an absence of operation. Source: European Union. (references)
Metallurgy	A core seat so shaped or arranged that the core will register correctly in the mould. Source: European Union. (references)
Mining	A. A simple device for indicating selected conditions of loading, flow, direction, etc b. A device for keeping a check on employees (as factory hands, drivers,check takers), esp. a time clock. (references)
Sports & Leisure	A strip of ribbon or yarn tied to a shroud to show the direction of the apparent wind. Source: European Union. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Telltale

Synonyms: revealing (adj), telling (adj), telltale(a) (adj), blabbermouth (n), talebearer (n), taleteller (n), tattler (n), tattletale (n). (additional references)

Context	Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).
Disclosure	Noun: disclosure; retection; unveiling;Verb: deterration, revealment, revelation; exposition, exposure; expose; whole truth; telltale; (news).
Indication	Warning; omen; prefigurement. trace, record. warning; alarm. scepter. trophy. gauge. milestone, milepost. brand, fool's cap. check, telltale; test; (experiment); mileage ticket; milliary.
News	Narrator; (describe); newsmonger, scandalmonger; talebearer, telltale, gossip, tattler.
Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Crosswords: Telltale

English words defined with "telltale": accusative, accusatory, accusing, accusive ♦ electronic manipulative deception ♦ manipulative electronic deception ♦ revealing ♦ Spurling-line ♦ telling. (references)

Specialty definitions using "telltale": rudder telltale. (references)

Domain	Title
Books	Cheaters: 180 Telltale Signs Mates Are Cheating and How to Catch Them (reference) Is He Cheating on You?: 829 Telltale Signs (reference) Telltale Hearts: The Origins Ad Impacts of the Vietnam Antiwar Movement (reference) Telltale Signs: A Savannah Williams Mystery (reference) Telltale Stories from Central America: Cultural Heritage, Political Systems, and Resistance in Developing Countries (reference) (more book examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Thumbnail	Description & Credit	Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	A telltale new warp uncovered in a vast, thin disk of dust encircling the star Beta Pictoris ...Credit: NASA.		One of the telltale sings of onchocerciasis is the fibrous nodule which forms under the victim's skin. / UN/WHO p.Credit: National Library of Medicine; photo by R. Witlin..
	One of the telltale sings of onchocerciasis is the fibrous nodule which forms under the victim's skin. / UN/WHO p.Credit: National Library of Medicine; photo by R. Witlin..
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Subject	Topic	Quote
Health		This helps doctors see telltale patterns in the brain's electrical activity that suggest a patient has seizures. (references)
		Another group is searching for telltale changes in mental abilities and personality--the so-called cognitive markers. (references)
		Finally, an immunodeficiency can be just one part of a complex syndrome, with a telltale combination of signs and symptoms. (references)
Human Rights	Venezuela	This abuse most commonly consisted of beatings during arrest or interrogation, but there also were incidents in which the security forces used near-suffocation and other forms of torture that left no telltale signs. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

"Telltale" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 96.43% of the time. "Telltale" is used about 28 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)

Parts of Speech	Percent	Usage per 100 Million Words	Rank in English
Noun (singular)	96.43%	27	66,962
Noun (proper)	3.57%	1	339,140
Total	100.00%	28	N/A

Expressions using "telltale": a telltale tear ♦ rudder telltale ♦ telltale clock ♦ telltale light ♦ telltale spine ♦ telltale tattler. Additional references.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.

Language		Translations for "telltale"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
Albanian		thashethemaxhi (scandal-bearer, scandalmonger, talebearer, taleteller, talkative), llafazan (babbler, big mouth, blab, blabber, blatant, chatterbox, chatterer, chatty, diffusive, flibbertigibbet, gabber, garrulous, gasbag, gossip, gossipmonger, gossipy, long-tongued, loose-tongued, magpie, mouther, popinjay, prattler, rattle-box, rattler, rattletrap, sieve, spieler, storyteller, talebearer, talkative, tattler, tattletale, windbag). (various references)

Arabic		‏كشف سرا (spill the beans), ‏مؤشر (finger, hand, index, indicator, marked, point, signal), ‏نمام (gossip, informer, prattler), ‏واشي (copper, delator), ‏واش, ‏وشى (blow the whistle, intersperse, malign, nark, peachy, rat, rubricate, sing, sneak, snitch, tale, tattle, tell, tell on, tell tales, traduce), ‏أداة ضبط (adjuster, adjustment), ‏رمز (allegory, attribute, character, code, denote, designate, emblem, ensign, figure, icon, image, indication, sign, stand for, symbol, symbolize, token, type, typify), ‏شاهد (attestation, behold, evidence, see, sight, text, view, witness), ‏دليل (attestation, clue, companion, directory, evidence, guide, guidebook, in evidence, index, pilot, proof, substantiation, testimonial, testimony). (various references)

Bulgarian		улика (clue), сигнално приспособление, клюкар (gossip, newsmonger, peddler of gossip, pedlar of gossip, quidnunc, retailer of gossip, rumor monger, rumour monger, scandalmonger, talebearer, tattler, tattletale), предупредително приспособление, предателски (disloyal, perfidious, traitorous), издайнически, издайник (blabber, squealer, talebearer), доказателство (averment, demonstration, object lesson, piece of evidence, proof, seal, showing, testimony, verification, vindication, witness), доносник (calumniator, communicant, delator, grass, informant, informer, rat, sneak, snitch, squeaker, stool pigeon, whisperer). (various references)

Chinese		搬弄是非. (various references)

Czech		zrádný (deceitful, false, guileful, perfidious, shifty, traitorous, treacherous, treasonable, treasonous), prozrazující, klepna (gossip, tell tale), donašeè (grass, informer, stool pigeon, talebearer, tell tale, whisperer), žalobník. (various references)

Danish		kontrollampe, kærnemærke (core marker, indicator, locator, register). (various references)

Dutch		verklikkerlicht, ratel (chatterbox, honey-badger, maraca, ratchet, ratel, rattle, tattler), prater (chatterbox, tattler), praatvaar (chatterbox, tattler), kletskous (chatterbox, tattler), kernmerk (attribute, core marker, indicator, locator, register), babbelaar (chatterbox, tattler). (various references)

Esperanto		babilulo (chatterbox, tattler), babilemulo (chatterbox, tattler). (various references)

Farsi		سخن چین (Informer), خبرکشی کردن (Gossip). (various references)

Finnish		ilmaisin (demodulator, detecting instrument, detector, indicating device, indicator, probe, sensor, tracer), asetusmerkillä varustettu keernakanta (core marker, indicator, locator, register). (various references)

French		témoin. (various references)

German		verräterisch (perfidious, telling, traitorous, treacherous, treacherously, treasonable, treasonably), Klatschbase (chatterbox, gossip, gossip monger, scandalmonger, tabby). (various references)

Greek		καταδότησ (informer, snitch, snitcher, squealer), καταδοτικόσ, σπερμολόγοσ (gossip, gossipy, newsmonger, tale bearer, tattler), μαρτυριάρησ, εντοπιστής πυρήνα (core marker, indicator, locator, register), ενδεικτική λυχνία. (various references)

Hebrew		מלשין (calumniator, delator, denouncer, fink, informer, malinger, slanderer, squealer), ל�'לות סו�" (betray, confide, divulge, give away, let on, let the cat out of the bag, spill the beans), לרמז (connote), לרכל (gossip, tell tales), רכלן (gossip, gossiper, gossipmonger, scandalmonger, talebearer, tattletale). (various references)

Hungarian		árulkodó (sneak, talebearer). (various references)

Indonesian		pengumpat (detractor, traducer). (various references)

Italian		chiacchierone (babbler, blabber, cackler, chatterbox, chatterer, gabber, gasser, gossip, jay, mouthy, rattler, rattlers, tattler, twaddler). (various references)

Pig Latin		elltaletay

Portuguese		tagarela (babbler, blab, bletherskite, cackler, chatterbox, chatty, clat, gabbler, Gabby, garrulous, jays, loquacious, milk and water, praties, talkative, tattler), pessoa que acusa outra, paroleiro (chatterbox, tattler), palrador (chatterbox, chatterer, mouthy, Prater, rattler, talking, tattler), mexeriqueiro (gossipy, newsmonger, peddlery, pedlar, quidnunc, scandalmonger, talebearer, taleteller, tattler), intrigante (designing, intriguant, intrigue, intriguing, schemer), denunciador (denunciator, detector, infraction, squealer), criança que acusa outra, avisador (bell, buzzer). (various references)

Romanian		turnãtor (caster, denunciator, founder, grass, molder, moulder, sneak), vorbãreţ (chatterbox, conversational, garrulous, loquacious, mouthy, talker), pârâtor (delator, informer, squeaker, tale teller), indicator de nivel, indicator (finger, guide, indicator, indicatory, needle, sign), gaiţã (gossip, jabberer, jay, magpie, rattler), flecar (babbler, blab, cackler, chatterbox, chatty, driveller, flibbertigibbet, flippant, garrulous, magpie, rattler, sieve, talkative, talker, talky, windbag), denunţãtor (approver, delator, denouncer, denunciator, informer, sneak), de pârâtor, de control (auditorial), codoş (go between, pander, pimp, procurer, sneak). (various references)

Russian		ябедник (talebearer), сплетник (blabber, fiction-monger, gossipmonger, newsmonger, quidnunc, scandal-bearer, scandalmonger, talebearer, taleteller, tattletale, whisperer). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian		znak (denotement, mark, marker, omen, pledge, semblance, sign, signal, symbol, symptom, token, wings), potkazivač (denunciator, informer), nagoveštaj (announcement, half word, hint, indication, inkling, innuendo, insinuation, intimation), koji izdaje, izdajnički (traitorous, treacherous, treasonable, treasonous). (various references)

Spanish		testigo (authentication token, baton, monolith, token, witness), soplón (fink, grass, informer, nark, sneak, sneaky, snitch, squealer, tattler), indicador (detector, display, flag, Gage, gauge, index, indicating, indicator, indicatory, leader, leading, marker, pointer, radiation indicator, register, trace, tracer, visual signal), caja de asiento del macho (core marker, indicator, locator, register). (various references)

Swedish		skvallerbytta (fiction-monger, newsmonger, scandal-bearer, scandalmonger, snitcher, talebearer, tattler, tattletale). (various references)

Turkish		yalan (deceit, fabrication, falsehood, falseness, fib, flam, gammon, hollow, invention, lie, made up, mendacious, plumper, prevarication, quack, sham, shave, tale, taradiddle, tarradiddle, tell a lie, untrue, untruth, untruthful), sayaç (counter, current meter, meter, recorder, register), sahte (apocryphal, artificial, bad, base, bastard, bogus, colorable, counterfeit, double dealing, dud, Duff, dummy, factitious, fake, false, feigned, forged, fraudulent, hollow, imitated, make believe, mannered, mock, phoney, phony, pinchbeck, pious, pretended, pseudo-, put on, quack, queer, rose water, sham, shoddy, simulated, snide, spurious, studied, supposititious, token, unreal, untrue, untruthful), sırrı açığa vuran kimse, ispiyoncu (denunciator, finger, finger man, fink, informant, informer, rat, snout, split, spy, squealler, stool pigeon), işe giriş saatini yazan makine, dedikoducu (babbler, back biter, backbiter, gossipmonger, gossipper, gossipy, newsmonger, peddler, pedlar, retailer of news, scandalmonger, scandalous, talebearer, taleteller, tattler, tittle tattle), ağustosböceğí (chatterbox, tattler). (various references)

Ukranian		сигнальний (warning), натяк (allusion, cue, hint, intimation, office, shadow, smell, suggestion, suspicion, tip, whisper), зрадницький (apostate, apostatic, apostatical, perfidious, recreant, traitorous, treasonable, wrong), пліткар (blabber, bobber, buzzer, cackler, earwig, gossiper, novelist, peddler, pedlar, pimp, quidnunc, retailer, scandalmonger, tattler, tattletale, tittle tattle), донощик (appellant, beefer, checker, delator, denunciator, informant, informer, nose, noser, snitch, weasel). (various references)

Vietnamese		thiết bị báo hiệu, người mách lẻo (tale-bearer, tale-teller), người hớt lẻo cái l� m lộ chân tướng, mách lẻo, l� m lộ tẩy, cái l� m lộ tẩy đ�"ng h�" kiểm tra. (various references)

Welsh		clepgi (babbler, blab, tattletale), cleci, clapgi (tattletale). (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

Derivations
	Words beginning with "telltale": telltales. (additional references)
Misspellings
	"Telltale" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: talltale, tultulan, tzeltal. (additional references)
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

# of Phoneme Matches	Pronunciation	Word(s) rhyming with "telltale" (pronounced te"ltā'l)
3	-t ā' l	coattail, cocktail, dovetail, fantail, folktale, foxtail, horsetail, ponytail, retail, whitetail.
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams
	Words within the letters "a-e-e-l-l-l-t-t"
	-2 letters: allele.
	-3 letters: allee, elate, latte, telae.
	-4 letters: alee, lall, late, leal, leet, tael, tale, tall, tate, teal, teat, teel, tela, tele, tell.
	-5 letters: ale, all, alt, ate, att, eat, eel, ell, eta, lat, lea, lee, let, tae, tat, tea, tee, tel, tet.
	Words containing the letters "a-e-e-l-l-l-t-t"
	+1 letter: telltales.
	+3 letters: tagliatelle.
	+4 letters: illiterately, intellectual, tagliatelles.
	+5 letters: anticellulite, intellectuals.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro.