'Telltale' definitions:

Definition of 'telltale'

From: WordNet
adjective
Disclosing unintentionally; "a telling smile"; "a telltale panel of lights"; "a telltale patch of oil on the water marked where the boat went down" [syn: revealing, telling, telltale(a)]
noun
Someone who gossips indiscreetly [syn: tattletale, tattler, taleteller, talebearer, telltale, blabbermouth]

Definition of 'Telltale'

From: GCIDE
  • Telltale \Tell"tale`\, a. Telling tales; babbling. "The telltale heart." --Poe. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Telltale'

From: GCIDE
  • Telltale \Tell"tale`\, n.
  • 1. One who officiously communicates information of the private concerns of others; one who tells that which prudence should suppress. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. (Mus.) A movable piece of ivory, lead, or other material, connected with the bellows of an organ, that gives notice, by its position, when the wind is exhausted. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. (Naut.) (a) A mechanical attachment to the steering wheel, which, in the absence of a tiller, shows the position of the helm. (b) 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. (Mach.) A machine or contrivance for indicating or recording something, particularly for keeping a check upon employees, as factory hands, watchmen, drivers, check takers, and the like, by revealing to their employers what they have done or omitted. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. (Zool.) The tattler. See Tattler. [1913 Webster]
  • 6. A thing that serves to disclose something or give information; a hint or indication.
  • It supplies many useful links and telltales. --Saintsbury. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  • 7. (Railroads) An arrangement consisting of long strips, as of rope, wire, or leather, hanging from a bar over railroad tracks, in such a position as to warn freight brakemen of their approach to a low overhead bridge. [Webster 1913 Suppl.] [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'telltale'

From: GCIDE
  • Tattler \Tat"tler\, n.
  • 1. One who tattles; an idle talker; one who tells tales. --Jer. Taylor. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. (Zool.) Any one of several species of large, long-legged sandpipers belonging to the genus Totanus. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: The common American species are the greater tattler, or telltale (Totanus melanoleucus), the smaller tattler, or lesser yellowlegs (Totanus flavipes), the solitary tattler (Totanus solitarius), and the semipalmated tattler, or willet. The first two are called also telltale, telltale spine, telltale tattler, yellowlegs, yellowshanks, and yelper. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'telltale'

From: GCIDE
  • Yellowlegs \Yel"low*legs`\, n. (Zool.) Any one of several species of long-legged sandpipers of the genus Totanus, in which the legs are bright yellow; -- called also stone snipe, tattler, telltale, yellowshanks; and yellowshins. See Tattler, 2. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'telltale'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Telltale'