• IPA: /ˈtɛlɪŋ/

1. Present participle and gerund of tell

telling

1. Having force, or having a marked effect; weighty, effective.

   a telling blow

2. Revealing information; bearing significance.

   a telling smile

3. Serving to convince.

   telling evidence

Gerund from the verb tell, from .

telling

1. The act of narration.
2. The disclosure of information.
   • 1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC ↗, page 16 ↗:

     There may he sit and smile, or creep among the ships, or moan and sigh round islands in his great content—the miser lord of wealth in gems and pearls beyond the telling of all fables.

3. (archaic) Counting, numbering.
4. (usually in the negative) Ability to determine.

• (counting, numbering) enumeration; see also Thesaurus:counting