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
Recent Examples on the Web
These calculations help researchers tell apart the nucleus’s intrinsic behavior from outside effects caused by the solid around it.
—
Andrei Derevianko, The Conversation, 14 Apr. 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
As the game progresses, vehicles become harder to tell apart.
—Brittney Melton, NPR, 20 Feb. 2026
The dog-show dogs are adorable, splendid, perfect … and often kind of hard to tell apart?
—Maura Judkis, Washington Post, 3 Feb. 2026
Potential uses beyond research User studies showed participants could locate pixels, detect motion, and tell apart spatial patterns using touch with millimeter-level accuracy.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 5 Dec. 2025
Even the internals are difficult to tell apart, though a close inspection will reveal subtle differences in the heat pipes and cooling fans.
—IEEE Spectrum, 13 Sep. 2025
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Andrei Derevianko, The Conversation, 14 Apr. 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
As the game progresses, vehicles become harder to tell apart.
—Brittney Melton, NPR, 20 Feb. 2026
The dog-show dogs are adorable, splendid, perfect … and often kind of hard to tell apart?
—Maura Judkis, Washington Post, 3 Feb. 2026
Potential uses beyond research User studies showed participants could locate pixels, detect motion, and tell apart spatial patterns using touch with millimeter-level accuracy.
—Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 5 Dec. 2025
Even the internals are difficult to tell apart, though a close inspection will reveal subtle differences in the heat pipes and cooling fans.
—IEEE Spectrum, 13 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Tell apart.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tell%20apart. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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