telltale

名词 n. 形容词 adj.
中文释义

英文释义

名词 n.
  1. One who divulges private information with intent to hurt others.
    — Your husband is at hand; I heare his Trumpet, / We are not tell-tales, Madam; feare you not.
  2. An indicator, such as a warning light, that serves to warn of a hazard or problem.
    — A railroad company, which has properly erected a “telltale,” or signal board, to give warning of the approach of a train to a bridge and which lights the place at night by an electric light, is not responsible for injury caused at night by the “telltale” to a brakeman who had been passing under it at regular intervals for five weeks, though when injured he was standing upon a new car higher than those before used, and though he ad received no warning from the company as to the danger of standing upon such a car while passing under the "telltale".
  3. Something that serves to reveal something else. figuratively
    — The telltale was the lipstick on his shirt collar.
  4. A movable piece of ivory, lead, or other material, connected to the bellows of an organ, whose position indicates when the wind is exhausted.
  5. A length of yarn or ribbon attached to a sail or shroud etc to indicate the direction of the flow of the air relative to the boat.
    — The sailmakers mistake can be an excellent way to lose a race as the telltale signals were disturbed and confusing.
  6. A mechanical attachment to the steering wheel, which, in the absence of a tiller, shows the position of the helm.
  7. A compass in the cabin of a vessel, usually placed where the captain can see it at all hours, and thus inform himself of the vessel's course.
  8. A machine or contrivance for indicating or recording something, particularly for keeping a check upon employees (factory hands, watchmen, drivers, etc.) by revealing to their employers what they have done or omitted.
  9. A bird, the tattler.
  10. A story or fable that has a moral or message.
    — "Metamorphoses . . ." is the title of a book of telltales (or serialised fables) written by Lucius Apulei¡us, a neo-platonist priest in the second century A.D.
形容词 adj.
  1. Revealing something, especially something not intended to be known.
    — I noticed the snow was dirty, a telltale sign of recent human presence.

词形变化

telltales plural tell-tale alternative tell tale alternative more telltale comparative most telltale superlative tell-tale alternative tell tale alternative

词汇关系

衍生词
telltale tit
相关词
tell tales

词源

词源 1
From tell + tale, perhaps dissimilated from earlier taleteller, from Middle English tale tellere (literally “tale teller”).
词源 2
From tell + tale, perhaps dissimilated from earlier taleteller, from Middle English tale tellere (literally “tale teller”).
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