English edit

Pronunciation edit

  • IPA(key): /ˈtɛlɪŋ/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛlɪŋ

Etymology 1 edit

Verb edit

telling

  1. present participle and gerund of tell

Adjective edit

telling (comparative more telling, superlative most telling)

  1. Having force, or having a marked effect; weighty, effective.
    a telling blow
  2. Revealing information; bearing significance.
    a telling smile
    • 2014 October 21, Oliver Brown, “Oscar Pistorius jailed for five years – sport afforded no protection against his tragic fallibilities: Bladerunner's punishment for killing Reeva Steenkamp is but a frippery when set against the burden that her bereft parents, June and Barry, must carry [print version: No room for sentimentality in this tragedy, 13 September 2014, p. S22]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Sport)[1]:
      But ever since the concept of "hamartia" recurred through Aristotle's Poetics, in an attempt to describe man's ingrained iniquity, our impulse has been to identify a telling defect in those brought suddenly and dramatically low.
  3. Serving to convince.
    telling evidence
Translations edit

Derived terms edit

Etymology 2 edit

Gerund from the verb tell, from tell +‎ -ing.

Noun edit

telling (countable and uncountable, plural tellings)

  1. The act of narration.
  2. The disclosure of information.
  3. (archaic) Counting, numbering.
  4. (chiefly in the negative) Ability to determine.
    • 1922, A[rthur] M[urray] Chisholm, A Thousand a Plate:
      "One white man." said Bill, after a brief inspection. "Out on his line, I s'pose, and there's no tellin' when he'll be back. So we won't wait. We'll just serve notice on him."
Synonyms edit
Derived terms edit

Anagrams edit

Dutch edit

Etymology edit

From tellen +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation edit

  • (file)
  • Hyphenation: tel‧ling

Noun edit

telling f (plural tellingen, diminutive tellinkje n)

  1. counting, count

Derived terms edit

Norwegian Bokmål edit

Etymology edit

From telle +‎ -ing.

Noun edit

telling f or m (definite singular tellinga or tellingen, indefinite plural tellinger, definite plural tellingene)

  1. counting, a count (act of counting)

Derived terms edit

See also edit

References edit

West Frisian edit

Etymology edit

From telle +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

telling c (plural tellingen)

  1. counting, count

Derived terms edit

Further reading edit

  • telling”, in Wurdboek fan de Fryske taal (in Dutch), 2011