tell off
"tell-off" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tell off” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To number off (a group of soldiers); to divide up (soldiers) in this way.
Corpus desk
Index EN-tell-off · tell off · English
tell off · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "T" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tell off |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tell off” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
tell off is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for tell off in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is tell off, spelled T-E-L-L- -O-F-F.
Definition
- 1To number off (a group of soldiers); to divide up (soldiers) in this way.
- 2To assign (someone) to a particular task, duty etc.; to depute, to allocate.
- 3To count off (numbers, members of a sequence etc.); to enumerate.
- 4To rebuke, to reprimand, or to admonish, often in a harsh, angry, direct way.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how tell off appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
To equalize a battalion is to tell off a certain number of companies, usually eight, in such a manner that the several component parts shall consist of the same number of men.
The provisions were packed over night and sent down by boat, in charge of the steward of the Gtdnare or some person specially told off for the purpose.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.