Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
verb
- simple past tense and past participle of tell1.
- all told, counting everyone or everything; in all: There were 50 guests all told.
adverb
- (sentence modifier) taking every one into account; in allwe were seven all told
verb
- the past tense and past participle of tell 1
adjective
- See all told
past tense of tell, from Old English talde, past tense of tellan (see tell (v.)).
Added up, in summation, as in The ferry will hold 80 passengers all told, or All told, his proposal makes some good points. This idiom, first recorded in 1850, uses the verb tell in the sense of “count.”
see all told; I told you so; little bird told me. also see under tell.