telling

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɛlɪŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛlɪŋ

Etymology 1

Verb

telling

1. present participle of tell

Adjective

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

Derived terms

• tellingly
• tellingness

Etymology 2

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

Noun

telling (plural tellings)

1. The act of narration.
2. The disclosure of information.
3. (archaic) Counting, numbering.
4. (chiefly in the negative) Ability to determine.

Synonyms

• (counting, numbering): enumeration; see also Thesaurus:counting

Anagrams

• gillnet

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Dutch

Etymology

From tellen +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: tel‧ling

Noun

telling f (plural tellingen, diminutive tellinkje n)

1. counting, count

Derived terms

• jaartelling

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From telle +‎ -ing.

Noun

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

1. counting, a count (act of counting)

Derived terms

• folketelling
• nedtelling

See also

• teljing (Nynorsk)

References

• “telling” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “telling” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

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West Frisian

Etymology

From telle +‎ -ing.

Noun

telling c (plural tellingen)

1. counting, count

Derived terms

• jiertelling

Further reading

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