How to Use tell the difference in a Sentence

tell the difference

idiom
Definition of tell the differencenext
  • One of the best ways to tell the difference, Pratt said, is to look for a hump at the shoulders.
    — Cnn, The Mercury News, 7 June 2024
  • Read on to learn how to tell the difference between a canker sore and a cold sore.
    — Amanda Gardner, Health, 13 Apr. 2024
  • The easiest way to tell the difference is to look for a bulb.
    — Sheena Chihak, Better Homes & Gardens, 11 May 2023
  • The easiest way to tell the difference is to look for a bulb.
    — Sheena Chihak, Better Homes & Gardens, 11 May 2023
  • The easiest way to tell the difference is to look at the label.
    — Andy Wilcox, Better Homes & Gardens, 13 Sep. 2024
  • Learn the names of some common species found in Mounds State Park, and how to tell the difference between a butterfly and a moth.
    — The Indianapolis Star, 26 July 2024
  • But your nervous system can’t tell the difference between the mental bear, and the real bear that’s in the room.
    — Cara Lynn Shultz, Peoplemag, 19 Sep. 2023
  • That’s the case even if the images are fake because other students may not be able to tell the difference.
    — Anna North, Vox, 2 May 2024
  • Apple didn’t spend much time talking about it at the iPhone 14 event, but upgraders should be able to tell the difference.
    — Jacob Siegal, BGR, 13 Sep. 2022
  • Fakes have become so good, even the savviest sneaker-heads can’t tell the difference.
    — Sol Rashidi, Forbes, 9 Sep. 2024
  • This is one way that a provider may be able to tell the difference between Lyme disease and ringworm.
    — Sarah Bradley, Health, 3 Aug. 2024
  • The only way to tell the difference is to run genetic testing.
    — Lauren Ferrer, Sun Sentinel, 18 July 2024
  • Was the issue that Clarkesworld couldn’t tell the difference between the human- and chatbot-written entries?
    — Daniel Wolfe, Washington Post, 13 Feb. 2024
  • Scientists don’t yet have enough data to tell the difference or to know how much signal comes from what type of source.
    — Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 28 June 2023
  • So, given the wide variations, don’t count on color to tell the difference.
    — Paul Richards, Field & Stream, 14 Sep. 2023
  • That may all change with the knowledge that honeybees can learn to tell the difference between even and odd groupings.
    — Alexandra Kukulka, Chicago Tribune, 16 Dec. 2022
  • Today there are many more ways to fabricate a song, and fewer ways to tell the difference between us and the robots.
    — C. Brandon Ogbunu, WIRED, 6 May 2024
  • World IDs could be used to tell the difference between real people and AI bots online.
    — Reuters, CNN, 24 July 2023
  • That answer drew a round of questioning from other justices about how to tell the difference.
    — John Fritze, USA TODAY, 8 Dec. 2022
  • What’s more, experts still struggle even to tell the difference between the male and female remains of dinosaurs.
    — Stephen C. George, Discover Magazine, 16 Apr. 2023
  • Matthews said the goal was to put the product head-to-head with Taco Bell’s signature beef offerings without being able to tell the difference.
    — Alicia Kelso, Forbes, 18 Aug. 2022
  • The software can tell the difference between a phone in someone’s hand and a phone in a dashboard mount, based on its motion signature.
    — Hiawatha Bray, BostonGlobe.com, 26 May 2023
  • The variation is in a class of genes called HLA that helps the immune system tell the difference between the body’s own proteins and those of viruses and bacteria.
    — Tim Loh, Bloomberg.com, 13 Oct. 2022
  • And until recently, doctors and patients had no way to tell the difference.
    — Gretchen Cuda Kroen, cleveland, 13 Nov. 2022
  • Diggs could already tell the difference from the defensive line.
    — Sportsday Staff, Dallas News, 19 July 2023
  • Read on to learn more about losing your mucus plug and how to tell the difference between your mucus plug, pregnancy discharge, and bloody show.
    — Tina Donvito, Parents, 31 July 2023
  • The second problem is now that 5G service is more broadly available in the United States, lots of us who have 5G can’t really tell the difference.
    — Shira Ovide, Washington Post, 13 June 2023
  • Read on to learn how to tell the difference between the causes of a stuffy nose and how to alleviate sinus pressure caused by nasal congestion.
    — Maggie O'Neill, Health, 31 Aug. 2023
  • The idea was that if the questioner could not tell the difference between human and machine, the computer would be considered to be thinking.
    — Joel Mathis, The Week, 14 June 2022
  • The team could tell the difference between Jupiter and the objects around it versus the distant solar system objects because any objects around Jupiter would be moving at the same rate as the gas giant.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN, 6 Feb. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tell the difference.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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