tell time
idiom
US
: to be able to know what time it is by looking at a clock
My son is just learning to tell time.
Examples of tell time in a Sentence
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Its latest creation capitalizes on the recent trend of functional ring watches, but unlike Timex and Casio’s wearables that don’t do much more than tell time, the Rogbid Fusion includes smart functionality like fitness tracking, heart rate and blood oxygen measurements, and sleep monitoring.
—
Andrew Liszewski, The Verge, 29 Jan. 2026
Atomic clocks, including hydrogen masers and cesium beam clocks, rely on the natural resonant frequencies of atoms to tell time with extremely high accuracy.
—Joe Hernandez, NPR, 21 Dec. 2025
People have cellphones that tell time.
—Shayla Love, The Atlantic, 21 Dec. 2025
All four models initially failed to tell time accurately.
—IEEE Spectrum, 8 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tell time
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Andrew Liszewski, The Verge, 29 Jan. 2026
Atomic clocks, including hydrogen masers and cesium beam clocks, rely on the natural resonant frequencies of atoms to tell time with extremely high accuracy.
—Joe Hernandez, NPR, 21 Dec. 2025
People have cellphones that tell time.
—Shayla Love, The Atlantic, 21 Dec. 2025
All four models initially failed to tell time accurately.
—IEEE Spectrum, 8 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tell time
Cite this Entry
“Tell time.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tell%20time. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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