Definition of telltale
- a. - Telling tales; babbling.
- n. - One who officiously communicates information of the
private concerns of others; one who tells that which prudence should
suppress.
- n. - 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.
- n. - A mechanical attachment to the steering wheel, which, in
the absence of a tiller, shows the position of the helm.
- n. - 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.
- n. - 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.
- n. - The tattler. See Tattler.