Word.ws English Dictionary

tells its own tale

tells its own tale is the third-person singular simple present indicative of tell its own tale.

Meaning of tell its own tale

Verb

tell its own tale (third-person singular simple present tells its own tale, present participle telling its own tale, simple past and past participle told its own tale)

  1. (idiomatic) To speak for itself; to require no explanation.
    • […] and looking out she saw Sir William Grant approaching at an easy trot, for he was anxious to avoid giving her any sudden shock; but the poor animal's state told its own tale; and starting up, Lady Sydney herself opened the hall-door […]1868, Frances Mary Oxenham, Edith Sydney, page 19

Questions about tells its own tale

What is tells its own tale the third-person singular simple present indicative of?
Tells its own tale is the third-person singular simple present indicative of tell its own tale.

Words near tells its own tale in the dictionary

  1. tells all
  2. tells apart
  3. tells fortunes
  4. tells it like it is
  5. tells it to the hand
  6. tells its own tale
  7. tells noses
  8. tells of
  9. tells off
  10. tells on
  11. tells someone where to get off

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tells its own tale (page history and authors); tell its own tale (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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