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telltale
in a sentence

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  • Joe went back inside to search for telltale signs that he had been living there for six months.†   (source)
  • But in the leafy rows of corn I did not find even the telltale dampness of an old pothole to orient myself.†   (source)
  • And then there followed a period of time in which she scrutinized my face—for any telltale indication of the race of my missing male ancestor, I would guess.†   (source)
  • He goes to one knee beside the cot, then recoils when he sees my face, the sallow skin, the swollen lips, and the sunken bloodshot eyes that are the telltale signs of the plague.†   (source)
  • There had been nothing telltale about any of them, nothing signifying their use as a return portal.†   (source)
  • And when she said this, I saw myself transforming like a werewolf, a mutant tag of DNA suddenly triggered, replicating itself insidiously into a syndrome, a cluster of telltale Chinese behaviors, all those things my mother did to embarrass me--haggling with store owners, pecking her mouth with a toothpick in public, being color-blind to the fact that lemon yellow and pale pink are not good combinations for winter clothes.†   (source)
  • And next thing we knew it was the middle of the night and she was delirious, out of her mind, really, and we called the doctor again and he looked down her throat and saw the telltale spots.†   (source)
  • As always, I listen a moment, but there's no telltale hum of electrical current running through the chain link.†   (source)
  • A series of clicks startled her, followed by telltale humming.†   (source)
  • Now as Peter's eyes discovered the bandaid on his neck, the telltale flicker of anger appeared.†   (source)
  • He's trying not to laugh, but the telltale dimple gives it away.†   (source)
  • Next time at least try to stop your telltale sign of lying.†   (source)
  • He listened for soldiers as he waited, scanning the inky landscape for the telltale flash of torches.†   (source)
  • I am fond of Mr. Poe and his telltale Raven: Erom Reven!†   (source)
  • But as we neared the aft engine gangways, I heard the telltale vibration of the port propeller.†   (source)
  • Telltales winked red but there was still enough suit power to show the amplified view glowing pale green through the spiderweb of cracks.†   (source)
  • But suddenly, after the telltale haircut … nothing.†   (source)
  • He watched for telltale clues, any remark or action that could not be explained.†   (source)
  • As the woman left I burst through the door with the telltale beaker.†   (source)
  • Cars speed beneath us, coming from the west, from out of the towering light, and we watch them as if for a sign, as if they carry on their painted surfaces some residue of the sunset, a barely detectable luster or film of telltale dust.†   (source)
  • While his motivation remained a mystery, Langdon had glimpsed a telltale shimmer of gold on the man's hand—a Masonic ring—the double-headed phoenix and the number 33.†   (source)
  • A thoughtful-looking fair man in military dress, his eyes bore the telltale traces of laugh lines at the corners.†   (source)
  • Once in Tarbean I saw a young girl of no more than sixteen with the telltale hollow eyes and unnaturally white teeth of the hopelessly addicted.†   (source)
  • Glass darted down the unfamiliar corridor, straining her eyes for the telltale silver gleam of an air vent.†   (source)
  • There are telltale signs: the skin loses its pinkness and fades to a jaundiced yellow.†   (source)
  • The neighborhood seemed safe to us, but there were telltales of its rough edge.†   (source)
  • Whatever had caused this wound—a narrow, flat object about two inches wide—had left its telltale outline behind in the deceased man's head.†   (source)
  • Last week, Tono had found a little rod behind Mama's wedding picture—a telltale sign of bugging.†   (source)
  • By that point, I definitely had a telltale heart.†   (source)
  • But not before I see telltale redness in his eyes.†   (source)
  • She dreaded the sudden appearance of a thread of water squirting from the glove, the telltale of a leak, a sign that her life was over.†   (source)
  • The telltale smell of smoke filtered in through the open windows.†   (source)
  • Particularly since the civil rights legislation of the mid-1960s, the telltale signs of societal progress had finally taken root among black Americans.†   (source)
  • And one of the most telltale things is that the classic autistic individual will laugh out loud and find it to be this moment of real physical comedy.†   (source)
  • They stepped more carefully when they made it to the area Mark had indicated, and soon they were back at it, searching every square inch for a telltale sign of a trail.†   (source)
  • A bat, metal tool, or other foreign object would have almost certainly left some sort of residue or telltale mark on the skin.†   (source)
  • It was possible that they would turn up a record of his ASU graduation, or some other telltale sign that he had been living in the United States, but admitting that he had been in the United States would guarantee the rejection of his application.†   (source)
  • Telltale wink.†   (source)
  • His telltale "Unit 3" bag slapping at his side, my father sprinted through thirty yards of saturating cross fire—mortars and machine guns—to the wounded boy's side.†   (source)
  • We knocked on the walls, listening for a telltale hollow sound; we felt for hidden seams.†   (source)
  • "Good enough," he repeats, without question this time, and the telltale flirt comes back into his voice.†   (source)
  • And just as it seemed the travails could grow no worse, the telltale fog of the Gas came wafting malevolently through the shattered trees.†   (source)
  • I watched for her hair to curl, the telltale Caster breeze.†   (source)
  • Once it was gone, she would walk to the box and sort through the bundle, looking for the telltale signs of his letters: the beige airmail envelopes he favored, postage stamps that depicted a world she knew nothing about, his name scrawled in the upper-left-hand corner.†   (source)
  • He's sure they're armed, and he spots telltale bulges on each with his trained eye.†   (source)
  • We stopped, straining to hear the telltale coo of pigeons.†   (source)
  • Her eyes swept across my face — already searching for telltale signs of trouble — and her forehead wrinkled.†   (source)
  • But then the disease became more active, the volcano started rumbling, oozing lava, spitting telltale traces of sulfurous gas when the wind was right.†   (source)
  • I searched the area but didn't see any telltale sign of smoke from their fire.†   (source)
  • She was suddenly desperate to wipe the blood and see if he borethe telltale one-inch circle that signified his union to another woman.†   (source)
  • He was hiding his right forearm, which clearly showed the telltale bluish marks of a syringe.†   (source)
  • At Mira's invitation, she took a seat, folded her hands to keep them from any telltale restless movements.†   (source)
  • The men came to church in what we called "dress shirts"—that was any shirt that didn't have the red, telltale spots of transmission fluid on its arms or tiny pinpoint black holes made from the flying sparks of the foundry.†   (source)
  • It was only when I took up the parchment to blot it and set it carefully away, that I saw the telltales of the rector's exhausted mind.†   (source)
  • Other telltale traits: callused hands from firing a weapon, shrapnel wounds from previous missions, and big egos.†   (source)
  • Sophie took her position seriously and was constantly alert for any telltale signs that might creep out around their drawn shades, across from which she kept a religious vigil.†   (source)
  • For ten minutes he paced back and forth, peering deep within the surrounding hedge for any hint of red or gold, listening for the telltale sound of Nick's tail.†   (source)
  • John Kennedy's bodyguards sport the telltale bulge of .†   (source)
  • I also make him change from his telltale black pants and laced boots to jeans and ordinary hiking boots.†   (source)
  • It bore the telltale marks of a hammer made of soft stone and all the signs of a skilled workman.†   (source)
  • The others had come pretty regularly and he expected his ring to start moving with the telltale quiver any second.†   (source)
  • Then, holding the doorknob so that there is no telltale click, you slip out and close the door behind you.†   (source)
  • Some were huge, others womanly, and the shoes of the servants had telltale buckles.†   (source)
  • Naturally, they didn't find a note, or anything else telltale—a love letter or a photograph.†   (source)
  • You've spent your whole life being miserable, and now it's over:' I looked for some telltale sign that she understood.†   (source)
  • So-called computermen—programmers, really—of Authority's civil service stood watches in outer read-out room and never went in machines room unless telltales showed misfunction.†   (source)
  • She lied with the full confidence that Saladin could see no telltale trace of deception in her eyes.†   (source)
  • He commed the door closed and checked the telltales.†   (source)
  • He listened for telltale sounds.†   (source)
  • God knows into what suffocating depths of discomfort I have, over the years, plunged family and friends, who out of love have tolerated my frequent seizures and have more or less successfully concealed yawns, the faint crack of jaw muscles and those telltale drops at the tear ducts signaling a death struggle with tedium.†   (source)
  • Telltale scratches about the lock plate testify that some have actually sought entrance.†   (source)
  • And through these rooms the guests ran, drunk at last, among the robot fantasies, amid the Dormice and Mad Hatters, the Trolls and Giants, the Black Cats and White Queens, and under their dancing feet the floor gave off the massive pumping beat of a hidden and telltale heart.†   (source)
  • No hope of hearing any telltale squeaking, the racket of the storm is too loud.†   (source)
  • It was a good sign, a telltale of the playful puppy still in him.†   (source)
  • "Are you saying it isn't necessary to be struck by anything to produce one of these telltale wounds?†   (source)
  • Echo's high heel tapped against the sidewalk, the telltale sign of nerves.†   (source)
  • Had he left any telltale footprints in the sand?†   (source)
  • "We came about our cycles," I began, searching the wall for the telltale little rod.†   (source)
  • Roland gives no telltale sign that he knows what really happened to them.†   (source)
  • Although after an entire year all his promises are starting to show the telltale signs of age.†   (source)
  • He knew he had been turning a blind eye to telltale signs that things were moving in this direction.†   (source)
  • I hear the telltale creak again and hold my breath.†   (source)
  • I start a small fire, counting on the mist to obscure any telltale smoke.†   (source)
  • If you could ignore the telltale signs that he is a certified creep.†   (source)
  • There's the telltale square, high up and to my right, just as it was this morning.†   (source)
  • "Congratulations," said Max, nodding at the telltale robes—inky black with amber trim.†   (source)
  • Beneath his scruffy beard, his face is the telltale scarlet of fever.†   (source)
  • Seeing nothing, he listens for a telltale clip-clop of approaching horseshoes.†   (source)
  • Up close his skin bore the telltale dark traceries of hunger.†   (source)
  • He swept the area ahead, looking for the telltale sign of a laser finder.†   (source)
  • The lone, telltale thread that could come loose to unravel the whole sweater.†   (source)
  • I massaged the back of Megan's pencil-thin neck, probing for the telltale lump.†   (source)
  • Within a minute, he was snoring, his nose wheezing with its telltale whistle.†   (source)
  • Tyler checked the telltales on the air lock, then opened the door.†   (source)
  • The answer was Connor's telltale mop of chestnut curls weaving through the crowd.†   (source)
  • There was no sign of fatigue, no telltale shuffle or dip of the head.†   (source)
  • He expected to encounter an obstacle at any moment; his worst fear was Peeves, and he strained his ears with every step to hear the first, telltale signs of the poltergeist's approach.†   (source)
  • She turned aside, but not fast enough to hide her expression from him, or the telltale shine in her eyes.†   (source)
  • He wonders if he's running a low fever; this morning he examined his tongue in the mirror for telltale blanching and spots.†   (source)
  • Granted, SCID is a very rare disease and it comes in many forms, but you have none, absolutely none, of the telltale signs of the disease.†   (source)
  • Martin Silenus seemed to be in his late fifties, but the Consul noticed the telltale blue tinge to throat and palms and suspected that the man had been through more than a few Poulsen treatments.†   (source)
  • The fugitives had left their telltale heat signatures on the room's lone exit—a heavy steel door whose keypad showed four clear fingerprints glowing on the numbers.†   (source)
  • In chapter 5, Todd describes the "the shadow of death," the telltale signs that a person's time on earth is coming to an end.†   (source)
  • A gush of blackish water splashed upward, and then the demon was gone, vanishing beneath the river's surface without even a telltale spray of bubbles to mark its place.†   (source)
  • Kassad saw the telltale red glow of reentry, heard the ion buildup on the active radio channels, and suddenly wondered if this had been such a good idea.†   (source)
  • We fanned out across the house, checking every room and closet for telltales of Marley's unsupervised adventure.†   (source)
  • The bathroom showed telltale signs of the activities of the night before; there were bloody cloths shoved into the trash and a smear of dried blood across the sink.†   (source)
  • I will try again someday, detouring to the east to find a crossing point, but from the telltale signs of phoenix across the chasm and the pall of smoke along the northeastern horizon, I suspect I will find only the chalma-fi! led canyons and steppes of flame forest that are roughed in on the orbital survey map I carry.†   (source)
  • The telltales were fading as the spore soup died, but I checked only two of the radial corridors before I found a trail.†   (source)
  • His pale skin was camouflaged with dirt, his telltale shoots of blond hair were tucked beneath a black skullcap.†   (source)
  • They'd built a furnace and then heated rocks of all varieties until they found the kind that leaked the telltale ore.†   (source)
  • His heart rate suddenly increased and his breathing thickened in the telltale sign of a panic attack.†   (source)
  • A sharp ridge of these quills lined its back, serving not only as a daunting defense, but also as a telltale indicator of mood.†   (source)
  • Most spells are easy to detect, unless someone has made an effort to hide them, and even then, the magic usually leaves certain telltale traces if you know what to look for.†   (source)
  • What she looked for instead were the telltale ridges that, if they existed, would lie across the belly of his forearm.†   (source)
  • Any telltale sign of wear he discovered sent him into a tizzy—a chip in the plaster or a hairline crack in a bathroom sink.†   (source)
  • He scanned the slides with his eyes, back and forth, back and forth, moving across the microscopic world, looking for a telltale greenish glow.†   (source)
  • Alec and Lana were much more cautious during the next part of their journey, stopping every fifteen minutes or so to listen intently, looking for telltale signs of guards or traps, keeping more to the cover of the trees whenever possible.†   (source)
  • He made no sound as he wove through the trees and underbrush, scanning every tree and shadow and listening for any telltale sounds.†   (source)
  • Luke held his hand up; the Alliance rune had faded, as it had for everyone, but his skin still bore the white telltale trace of it, the scar that would never entirely disappear.†   (source)
  • After Long detects the telltale snicker or wince-that sidelong look of doubt-it's just a matter of time.†   (source)
  • The picture was of baby Gasman, with his telltale cowlick, being held by a woman who looked kind of tired and washed out.†   (source)
  • So the White Dragon simply traveled in a slow curve along the lands, guided to where they needed to be by the telltale smudge of darkness the shadow created on the horizon.†   (source)
  • He was looking for the telltale signs—the fidgeting, the squirming, the sudden starts—that signaled the onset of emotional distress and confusion.†   (source)
  • The first time I met Leigh, she was standing on my front porch, holding the telltale foil-covered dish.†   (source)
  • He rolls the president on one side and carefully searches for a puncture wound, his fingers slipping along the skin, probing for a telltale oozing of blood.†   (source)
  • Some movement caught his eye; deer were grazing in the meadow, but there was no telltale glint of gold to signal their quarry "Rolf, take a position near those bushes in the center," said Sarah urgently.†   (source)
  • "immaculate," and the telltale "!†   (source)
  • A thin shaft of moonlight showed the telltale ears of many vyes, bent and wolfish with their long jackal snouts pressed against the ground.†   (source)
  • Apparently, he rolled into town with a truckload of antiquities to sell—Greek, Roman, Persian, all highquality, many bearing the telltale signs of recent excavation.†   (source)
  • Leaving them, Max swept the glass across the closer terrain and searched frantically for any telltale lights or motion.†   (source)
  • I stand up, check the holt catch on the rifle, and ease through the trees toward the sound, scanning the terrain for the telltale green glow of an "infested."†   (source)
  • He leaped up and ran to the window to look for the telltale glow against the sky.†   (source)
  • She just lay there, propped on the pillows, watching him with her sober eyes in which there was nothing at all--joy, surprise, reproach, love--while over his face passed shock, astonishment, outrage, and then downright terror, each one mocking in turn at the telltale little white scar, while ceaselessly here and there about the empty room went his harried and desperate eyes.†   (source)
  • "I'm no telltale, Anne Shirley, and anyhow I was just as much to blame as you."†   (source)
  • The handle of the telltale teaspoon was visible under the bed-valance.†   (source)
  • The old blaze leaped to the telltale eyes.†   (source)
  • Louis tells me that the gossip of the sailors finds its way aft, and that two of the telltales have been badly beaten by their mates.†   (source)
  • Bo raised her face, flushed in part and also pale, with tear-wet cheeks and the telltale blaze in the blue eyes.†   (source)
  • And, probably, had such a step been suggested to him, he would have been deterred from taking it by the thought, one of novice-magnanimity, that it would savor overmuch of the dirty work of a telltale.†   (source)
  • Dale's eager tone, his flashing eyes, had made her feel that her secret was there in her telltale face.†   (source)
  • "Remember, Duncan, how necessary your safety is to our own—how you bear a father's sacred trust—how much depends on your discretion and care—in short," she added, while the telltale blood stole over her features, crimsoning her very temples, "how very deservedly dear you are to all of the name of Munro."†   (source)
  • All glances went through the window, and nobody noticed that Wildeve disguised a brief, telltale look.†   (source)
  • But at last the roar of a bigger and nearer break than usual brought her out of her torpor, and she looked up, and her practiced eye fell upon that telltale rush of water.†   (source)
  • A few months later off the coast of Syria, I recaptured a few specimens of my fish, adorned with their telltale rings.†   (source)
  • I came to get my umbrella, that is, to see how your father finds himself today," said Mr. Brooke, getting a trifle confused as his eyes went from one telltale face to the other.†   (source)
  • Deep in the rock shadow, there was no telltale gleam of scales.†   (source)
  • But no hint of a prisoner, and no telltale gleam of sun on red hair.†   (source)
  • Murtagh bent to peer under the slouch hat that masked Jamie's telltale hair.†   (source)
  • …there's an offer I really can't refuse!"
    With all his force the god of fire loosed the chains
    and the two lovers, free of the bonds that overwhelmed them so,
    sprang up and away at once, and the Wargod sped to Thrace
    while Love with her telltale laughter sped to Paphos,
    Cyprus Isle, where her grove and scented altar stand.
    There the Graces bathed and anointed her with oil,
    ambrosial oil, the bloom that clings to the gods
    who never die, and swathed her round in gowns
    to stop…†   (source)
  • I wondered if Hamish was with them, and quickly found the telltale spot of bright hair, gleaming wildly from Cobhar's back in the middle of the pack.†   (source)
  • Floundering through the drifts, I kicked enough snow under the belly of Jamie's horse to obliterate the telltale drops.†   (source)
  • Sir Marcus and I had padded Jamie's hips and thighs as thickly as we could with linen bandages under a pair of worn breeches and hose, dark in color to hide any telltale blood spots that might seep through.†   (source)
  • And just now at Edy's words as a telltale flush, delicate as the faintest rosebloom, crept into her cheeks she looked so lovely in her sweet girlish shyness that of a surety God's fair land of Ireland did not hold her equal.†   (source)
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