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# telly

«telly» in Mova's school dictionary: **a television set** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (the telly, tellies — UK, Ireland, Australia, NZ, informal)

### meaning for a pupil

1) (informal, UK) Telly is a television set. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/telly/#m1)

2) (informal, UK) Telly is the programmes shown on television. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/telly/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

It is the everyday British, Irish, Australian and New Zealand word for TV. Children say «What's on the telly?» or «Can I watch telly?» In stories it shows a casual, friendly voice. Phrases: watch telly, on the telly, turn the telly on/off, telly addict.

### examples

- Can I watch telly after my homework? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/telly/#x1)
- What's on the telly tonight? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/telly/#x2)
- Nan fell asleep in front of the telly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/telly/#x3)
- Turn the telly off and come for tea. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/telly/#x4)
- We saw our school on the telly! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/telly/#x5)
- We bought a new telly for the living room. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/telly/#x6)
- I watched 2 hours of telly on Saturday and 3 on Sunday, 5 in all. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/telly/#x7)

### note

Informal, short for television. Plural «tellies». In the USA people say «TV». It is fine in speech but should be «television» in formal writing.

### In the corpora

- [By eight o'clock Mum is asleep on the sofa with the telly still on.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/34-when-grown-ups-are-tired-or-worried/3/)
- [Mum switches the telly off, sits down and pulls her in.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/59-the-parents-walk-in-how-good-parents-react/6/)
- [Leo's big brother said Leo broke the telly, and Leo got grounded.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/454-forgiving/16/)
- [Loud noise near a pet's bed, like drums or a blaring telly, can make it avoid you.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/457-the-cat-that-only-likes-dad-and-other-choosy-pets/25/)
- [In Middlesbrough the telly dies right in the middle of Lorcan's cartoons, and the lights go with it.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/488-the-electric-meter-the-food-bank-and-we-cant-afford-it/0/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «telly» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/telly/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.