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.
Tsunami’s story cannot be told apart from the larger one surrounding it. — Luis E. Romero, Forbes.com, 1 July 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 Asian needle ants can easily be told apart from other ant types by their inability to cling to smooth surfaces like glass. — Jane Kim, The Spruce, 24 May 2026 Clipping is hard to trace, hard to tell apart from ordinary posting, and hard to eliminate without killing off much of the engagement that these platforms have come to depend on. — Lane Brown, Vulture, 15 May 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 10 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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