tell apart

verb

told apart; telling apart; tells apart
: to see what the differences are between (people or things) : to identify (people or things that look similar to each other)
It's hard to tell the twins apart.

Examples of tell apart in a Sentence

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The dog-show dogs are adorable, splendid, perfect … and often kind of hard to tell apart? — Maura Judkis, Washington Post, 3 Feb. 2026 Tsunami’s story cannot be told apart from the larger one surrounding it. — Luis E. Romero, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026 Twin brothers, these rapscallions can be told apart by Boris’s kinked tail and the colors of their collars. — Literary Hub, 10 Apr. 2026 Harder to tell apart than Henrik and Daniel were in their 20s, and not by a little bit. — Thomas Drance, New York Times, 5 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for tell apart

Rhymes for tell apart

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Browse Nearby Words

tell-all
tell apart
tell down
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Cite this Entry

“Tell apart.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tell%20apart. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on tell apart

Nglish: Translation of tell apart for Spanish Speakers

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