FORETELL (foretold)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: foretold   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does foretell mean? 

• FORETELL (verb)
  The verb FORETELL has 3 senses:

1. foreshadow or presage

2. make a prediction about; tell in advance

3. indicate, as with a sign or an omen

  Familiarity information: FORETELL used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FORETELL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they foretell    ... he / she / it foretells   
Past simple: foretold   
Past participle: foretold   
-ing form: foretelling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Foreshadow or presage

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

announce; annunciate; foretell; harbinger; herald

Hypernyms (to "foretell" is one way to...):

tell (let something be known)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make a prediction about; tell in advance

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

anticipate; call; forebode; foretell; predict; prognosticate; promise

Context example:

Call the outcome of an election

Hypernyms (to "foretell" is one way to...):

guess; hazard; pretend; venture (put forward, of a guess, in spite of possible refutation)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "foretell"):

read (interpret the significance of, as of palms, tea leaves, intestines, the sky; also of human behavior)

outguess; second-guess (attempt to anticipate or predict)

augur (predict from an omen)

bet; wager (maintain with or as if with a bet)

calculate; forecast (predict in advance)

prophesy; vaticinate (predict or reveal through, or as if through, divine inspiration)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

foretelling (a statement made about the future)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Indicate, as with a sign or an omen

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

augur; auspicate; betoken; bode; forecast; foreshadow; foretell; omen; portend; predict; prefigure; presage; prognosticate

Context example:

These signs bode bad news

Hypernyms (to "foretell" is one way to...):

bespeak; betoken; indicate; point; signal (be a signal for or a symptom of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "foretell"):

threaten (to be a menacing indication of something)

foreshow (foretell by divine inspiration)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

 Context examples 

The miller was curious, and said: “Let him foretell something for once.”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

She was obliged, in spite of her previous determination to the contrary, to do it all the justice that Mrs. Weston foretold.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

The three days were, as she had foretold, busy enough.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

So I was not altogether surprised when the squall foretold by Louis smote me.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Mr. Crawford had, as he foretold, been very punctual, and short and pleasant had been the meal.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The gravity of both their faces foretold some weighty quest.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Her letter was scarcely finished, when a rap foretold a visitor, and Colonel Brandon was announced.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

A bright morning so early in the year, she allowed, would generally turn to rain, but a cloudy one foretold improvement as the day advanced.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Gregory was formulating his theory, which was almost exactly what Holmes had foretold in the train.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

December will foretell the beauty and excitement that is to come to you in your New Year, 2020.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)